Your team's brainstorms are predictable
The same safe ideas every time, and the loudest voice decides.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to brainstorm ideas on your own or with a team
Generate more ideas, then better ones, before anyone judges them.
A course on structured brainstorming. It covers separating generating from judging, why writing alone before a group discussion often produces more ideas, prompts and constraints that push past the obvious, and how to sort a long list into a few ideas worth testing.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to brainstorm ideas that are not obvious, both alone and with my team. Our brainstorms produce the same safe ideas, the loudest person wins, and on my own I run dry after the first three.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Four things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Set a number before you start
Give yourself 10 minutes to write 20 ideas, with no crossing out. The first few are usually the obvious ones, and the less predictable ideas tend to come later. Judge only when the timer ends.
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Have everyone write before anyone talks
In a team, give each person five minutes to write ideas silently, then share them in turn. This stops the first idea spoken from anchoring the room and gives quieter people the same airtime.
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Reverse the problem
If the problem is 'how do we get more people to our event?', list ways to make sure nobody comes: the wrong time, no reminder, a confusing sign-up page. Flip each answer and you often find a fix you had not listed.
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Borrow from another field
Pick an unrelated kind of organisation and ask how it would solve your problem. Illustrative example: 'How would a library handle our customer queue?' might suggest numbered tickets or a self-service shelf.
- Best for
- Creativity
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- Do you brainstorm mostly alone, with a team, or both?
- What do you need ideas for right now?
- Where does it go wrong: too few ideas, safe ideas, or no way to choose between them?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You stop after three ideas
The obvious ones arrive quickly and then nothing comes.
You judge too early
Every idea gets shot down before it is finished, often by you.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06Why first ideas are obvious
How familiarity and early judgement narrow what comes to mind.
Quantity first
Setting a number and a time limit before evaluating anything.
Writing before talking
Brainwriting, and why people often generate more ideas alone first.
Prompts and constraints
Reversing the problem, borrowing from other fields and deliberate limits.
Sorting the list
Grouping, combining and choosing a few ideas to test.
Running it with others
A simple format for a team that keeps the loudest voice in check.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Separate making from judging
Run a generating round and a deciding round on purpose.
Push past the obvious
Use prompts and constraints to reach less predictable ideas.
Run a fair group round
Give quieter people's ideas the same chance as the loudest voice.
Ideas this course corrects
Talking in a group produces the most ideas
Decades of research suggest people who generate ideas alone and then pool them usually produce more than the same people talking together. Discussion helps more with combining and choosing.
Constraints kill creativity
A clear limit, such as a small budget or a single week, often pushes people past the first obvious answer.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to brainstorm ideas on your own or with a team: what can I do today?
Set a number before you start. Give yourself 10 minutes to write 20 ideas, with no crossing out. The first few are usually the obvious ones, and the less predictable ideas tend to come later. Judge only when the timer ends. Have everyone write before anyone talks. In a team, give each person five minutes to write ideas silently, then share them in turn. This stops the first idea spoken from anchoring the room and gives quieter people the same airtime. Reverse the problem. If the problem is 'how do we get more people to our event?', list ways to make sure nobody comes: the wrong time, no reminder, a confusing sign-up page. Flip each answer and you often find a fix you had not listed. Borrow from another field. Pick an unrelated kind of organisation and ask how it would solve your problem. Illustrative example: 'How would a library handle our customer queue?' might suggest numbered tickets or a self-service shelf.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on structured brainstorming. It covers separating generating from judging, why writing alone before a group discussion often produces more ideas, prompts and constraints that push past the obvious, and how to sort a long list into a few ideas worth testing. It sits under Creativity in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to brainstorm ideas that are not obvious, both alone and with my team. Our brainstorms produce the same safe ideas, the loudest person wins, and on my own I run dry after the first three.