Reverse brainstorming is a technique that we build on our natural ability. With the help of reverse brainstorming, we can easily see the problems rather than their solutions. If you are using the reverse brainstorming technique, you don’t need to ask the group to brainstorm the ideas. The group members have to brainstorm the ways that can become a cause of the failure of a plan. Most people are using this technique. It is the best way to criticize or see the gaps in a plan. After criticizing the gaps in a plan, they can easily create an outline for the success of a plan. We can also use reverse brainstorming to get access to complex problems from different perspectives.
Reverse Brainstorming Approach:
The reverse brainstorming approach consists of five steps. These five steps are explained below;
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Identify the Problem:
Identifying the problem is the first step of the reverse brainstorming approach. In this step, you will have to identify the problem and write on a large sheet of paper. You can use this large sheet of paper in the form of a flip chart. It is the best way to clear the actual situation for all the participants.
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Reverse the Problem:
After identifying the problem, you should not look for solutions to this problem. You just need to reverse the problem. For this reason, you will have to think about the causes that can make it worse. In other words, you should think about the opposite effects of the problem.
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Collect Ideas:
In this step, you will have to gather the important information relevant to the problem. You should gather all the ideas to worsen the problem. Here, you should keep in mind that all the ideas to worsen the problem are usable to you. Therefore, you can’t throw the suggestion of any group member. You should ensure the free flow of the ideas. Anyhow, you should not accept the criticism over these ideas.
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Reverse Ideas:
After gathering the ideas, you will have to reverse the ideas. While reversing the ideas, you will have to transfer these ideas into real solutions. This is the best way to think about the real solutions to the problems.
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Evaluate Solutions:
Now, you will have to evaluate the solutions to all the problems. When you will evaluate the solutions to these problems, you can easily assess these ideas. In the end, you will have to get suggestions from all the group members. When group members will decide about the actual solution to the problem, they will enjoy this situation.
How to Increase Creativity and Innovation?
We can also call it negative brainstorming. With the help of reverse brainstorming, you can turn the typical brainstorming upside down. If you are facing some problems to achieve a goal, you can easily achieve it by using reverse brainstorming. It is the best way to provide useful information to the group members. After gathering useful information, the group members can get an idea of what is working and what is not working. The participants can easily use it when they have to face undesirable and unpredictable situations. Here, we will discuss different ways to increase creativity and innovation by using this type of brainstorming.
- To move forward with a project, the participants have to think about all the ideas. If they have utilized all the ideas and they have nothing to add more, they can use this technique. By using this technique, they can brainstorm new ideas to move forward their projects.
- To increase creativity and innovation, we have to take part in group discussions. Some group members have no idea to explore in the group. On the other hand, some group members are the quietest members of the group instead of having something to explore. When we utilize the reverse brainstorming technique, we can encourage all the group members to explore their ideas.
- Research by a dissertation help firm shows that the main cause of the failure of lots of projects is that we don’t have enough ideas to move forward with these projects. After increasing innovation and creativity with the help of reverse brainstorming, we can generate enough ideas at the beginning of the project. If a specific idea fails, we can utilize the other idea.
- We have to run some difficult and thorny projects during the professional life. While running these projects, we may have to face the problems of lack of enthusiasm and energy. To speed up these projects, we require energy and enthusiasm. We can’t get this energy and enthusiasm without reverse brainstorming. With the help of this type of brainstorming, we can explore the opportunities for success.
- To make a real and positive difference in a project, we have to utilize some out of the box ideas. If participants are utilizing the traditional brainstorming technique, they can’t generate the out of the box ideas. Moreover, they have to face a lack of creativity and innovation problems. On the other hand, reverse brainstorming provides enough creativity and innovation to generate the out of box ideas.
- Instead of utilizing it to generate innovative ideas for the new products, you can also use it to generate innovative ideas for the existing products. If your product is not performing well, you can easily pinpoint the issues and problems. After pinpointing these issues and problems, you can find out the best solutions to these problems.
- If all the members of a group are familiar with a problem, they can easily accept the challenge. After accepting the challenge, they can quickly generate ideas.
- In traditional brainstorming, we just think about the solutions to the problems. We don’t think about new problems. As a result, we fail to generate new ideas. On the other hand, if we are using reverse brainstorming, we have to think about the new problems too. When we think about new problems, we can easily pinpoint all the solutions to these problems.
Increase creativity and innovation, it also relieves stress and frustration. When participants participate in different situations, they can actively engage in different situations.
