<p>I'm wondering if your approach to "identify[ing] problems, not solutions," will include so-called <em>reverse</em> or <em>negative</em> brainstorming, in which participants are directed to consider "what can be done to break something instead of focusing solely on narrow-minded fixes,"<sup>1</sup> to be "highly critical, rather than highly creative."<sup>2</sup> If this is the case, the group could "warm up" by applying this technique to some other area: their own lives, their favourite sports teams, public policy issues, etc.</p>

<p><sup>1</sup> Stephen C. Harper. <a href="http://blog.halogensoftware.com/how-to-solve-problems-with-reverse-brainstorming" rel="nofollow">How to Solve Problems with Reverse Brainstorming</a>, posted on his TalentSpace Blog, December 14, 2011.</p>

<p><sup>2</sup> Harper. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=9Kvv2Yv67jYC&amp;pg=PA78&amp;lpg=PA78&amp;dq=%22brainstorming+to+identify+problems%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=4naZsA5Lqv&amp;sig=joFBXIDTy1nR-8VNeaz5AWVbz24&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=DJOqUr6eKYrLkAeT4oHICg&amp;ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=%22brainstorming%20to%20identify%20problems%22&amp;f=true" rel="nofollow">Extraordinary Entrepreneurship: The Professional's Guide to Starting an Exceptional Enterprise (Google eBook)</a>, 2005, p.78.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-18T11:55:24.293Z
Thanks for the info. I'll definitely experiment with reverse brainstorming.
user3977
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-19T03:57:51.683Z
I messed up the first footnote and have now corrected it.
Eric Sherman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-14T08:35:16.407Z
2013-12-19T03:53:01.347Z
2013-12-19T03:53:01.347Z
Eric Sherman
<p>I'd like to share an observation from a personal experiment, loosely based on creative thinking exercises I've read about "somewhere".</p>

<p>Over a course of 21 days, I was looking for innovative products in the world around me. I took pictures of them using my iPhone, and then did a short writeup about what problem this innovation is trying to solve and why I think it is awesome. <strong>In short, the exercise is two fold: first see solutions applied to problems (like below), then see problems that don't have solutions yet.</strong></p>

<p>For example - looking at cars in a parking lot, I noticed something like this - a roof rack with a little cloth piece in front of it which reduces drag caused by the roof rack. These things did not exist in the 90s:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Duzpa.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>Another example would be a promotional flag like the one below. The curved top shape means that the flag is always stiff. It's rotating flag base prevents the flag from tangling around the pole:
<img src="https://i.sstatic.net/KwLm3.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>Yet another example would be stackable office chairs like the ones below. Not only does their architecture save storage space, but it allows a single person to move multiple chairs at once:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vCPYD.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T15:55:49.847Z
2014-11-25T15:55:49.847Z
Alex Stone
<p>I am a manager of a team of software engineers. We often use brainstorming sessions to generate solutions to problems. We use typical cognitive games, e.g. word association, to "warm-up" and facilitate the ideations sessions. These sessions are fruitful.</p>

<p>Tomorrow we are having a brainstorming session to identify problems, not solutions. It would seem that we should prepare our minds with a different technique. Personally, I find that I am best at noticing problems when I am in a negative mindset. Does that hold true against existing research? If so, what would be a good way of getting in to that type of mindset? I would assume causing some kind of mental anguish would facilitate negative thinking. However I don't want to upset my team or do any lasting damage.</p>

<p>Some random ideas that have come to mind include:
- Taking a minute to talk about historical atrocities
- Having food at the session, but not letting anyone eat</p>

<p>If I go down this road, what would be a good decompression method to get people back in to a positive mindset at the end?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-18T11:50:58.600Z
In the end I opted to do a standard warm up (a word association game). The brainstorm was very productive. Once a few problems were articulated, people naturally got in to a complaining groove.
user3977
<problem-solving><brain-training><ideation>
How to best prepare the mind for a problem identification brainstorm?
user3977
# How to best prepare the mind for a problem identification brainstorm?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-13)

I am a manager of a team of software engineers. We often use brainstorming sessions to generate solutions to problems. We use typical cognitive games, e.g. word association, to "warm-up" and facilitate the ideations sessions. These sessions are fruitful.

Tomorrow we are having a brainstorming session to identify problems, not solutions. It would seem that we should prepare our minds with a different technique. Personally, I find that I am best at noticing problems when I am in a negative mindset. Does that hold true against existing research? If so, what would be a good way of getting in to that type of mindset? I would assume causing some kind of mental anguish would facilitate negative thinking. However I don't want to upset my team or do any lasting damage.

Some random ideas that have come to mind include:
- Taking a minute to talk about historical atrocities
- Having food at the session, but not letting anyone eat

If I go down this road, what would be a good decompression method to get people back in to a positive mindset at the end?

**Tags:** problem-solving, brain-training, ideation

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: In the end I opted to do a standard warm up (a word association game). The brainstorm was very productive. Once a few problems were articulated, people naturally got in to a complaining groove.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-14. Score: 1

I'm wondering if your approach to "identify[ing] problems, not solutions," will include so-called *reverse* or *negative* brainstorming, in which participants are directed to consider "what can be done to break something instead of focusing solely on narrow-minded fixes,"1 to be "highly critical, rather than highly creative."2 If this is the case, the group could "warm up" by applying this technique to some other area: their own lives, their favourite sports teams, public policy issues, etc.

1 Stephen C. Harper. [How to Solve Problems with Reverse Brainstorming](http://blog.halogensoftware.com/how-to-solve-problems-with-reverse-brainstorming), posted on his TalentSpace Blog, December 14, 2011.

2 Harper. [Extraordinary Entrepreneurship: The Professional's Guide to Starting an Exceptional Enterprise (Google eBook)](http://books.google.com/books?id=9Kvv2Yv67jYC&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&dq=%22brainstorming+to+identify+problems%22&source=bl&ots=4naZsA5Lqv&sig=joFBXIDTy1nR-8VNeaz5AWVbz24&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DJOqUr6eKYrLkAeT4oHICg&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22brainstorming%20to%20identify%20problems%22&f=true), 2005, p.78.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the info. I'll definitely experiment with reverse brainstorming.  
> **username_1**: I messed up the first footnote and have now corrected it.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-11-25. Score: 0

I'd like to share an observation from a personal experiment, loosely based on creative thinking exercises I've read about "somewhere".

Over a course of 21 days, I was looking for innovative products in the world around me. I took pictures of them using my iPhone, and then did a short writeup about what problem this innovation is trying to solve and why I think it is awesome. **In short, the exercise is two fold: first see solutions applied to problems (like below), then see problems that don't have solutions yet.**

For example - looking at cars in a parking lot, I noticed something like this - a roof rack with a little cloth piece in front of it which reduces drag caused by the roof rack. These things did not exist in the 90s:

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Duzpa.jpg)

Another example would be a promotional flag like the one below. The curved top shape means that the flag is always stiff. It's rotating flag base prevents the flag from tangling around the pole:
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/KwLm3.png)

Yet another example would be stackable office chairs like the ones below. Not only does their architecture save storage space, but it allows a single person to move multiple chairs at once:

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vCPYD.png)


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