About Mind Tools Membership Corporate Services Tool Explorer Contact Us Newsletter 242 Jun 5, 2012 In This Issue... Rolestorming Crawford's Slip Writing Method Stepladder Technique Who's in the Room? The Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) Process Questioning Techniques Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter   Inspire Dramatic Ideas! When you're brainstorming in a group, it's easy to miss great ideas because people are too afraid to voice their most creative thoughts. Rolestorming helps you avoid this. This simple technique encourages people to pretend to be someone else, so that they can overcome their inhibitions during group brainstorming sessions. Find out more about it in our featured article. We then look at two further frameworks that help you involve everyone in your team with idea generation - Crawford's Slip Writing Method, and the Stepladder Technique. Enjoy finding out about these tools!         James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career!     Featured Resources at Mind Tools Rolestorming Improving Group Brainstorming Use this technique to come up with highly creative ideas when you're brainstorming with your team. All Readers' Skill-Builder Crawford's Slip Writing Method Generating Ideas from Many Contributors This technique helps everyone have their say in group brainstorming sessions. All Readers' Skill-Builder Stepladder Technique Making Better Group Decisions Use this simple team-based approach to come up with well-considered solutions to problems. All Readers' Skill-Builder   ... And from the Mind Tools Club Who's in the Room?, by Bob Frisch This book looks at how you can make better strategic decisions by involving the right people in the decision-making process. Learn more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight The Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) Process Making Good Decisions Under Pressure Learn how to use "pattern recognition" to make better decisions in high-pressure situations. All Members' Skill-Builder Questioning Techniques Asking the right questions is at the heart of good communication. Learn some effective questioning techniques with this short video. All Readers' New Video   Too Busy for Training? Join the Mind Tools Club! Learn the skills you need - when you need them, and in easy, bite-sized chunks. Click here to boost your career >>   Editors' Choice Article Rolestorming Improving Group Brainstorming Have you ever been in a brainstorming session and had a good idea that was a little "out there"? If so, you might have kept the idea to yourself, because you felt embarrassed to share it with your group. After all, if the idea was too far-fetched or different, it might damage your reputation, right? However, you may have felt more comfortable sharing your ideas if they were "someone else's." This is where Rolestorming is useful. Generate ideas using someone else's perspective. © iStockphoto/Elnur This simple brainstorming technique encourages group members to take on other people's identities. This reduces the inhibitions that many people feel when sharing their ideas with a group, and it helps people come up with ideas that they may not have otherwise considered. About the Tool Rick Griggs developed the Rolestorming method in the early 1980s. Dr Arthur VanGundy then described it in his 2004 book, "101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem-Solving." Griggs developed the technique to help people overcome their inhibitions during group brainstorming sessions. The idea is that if you pretend to be someone else, you'll feel more comfortable putting ideas forward. This is because taking on another role distances you from owning an idea, which helps you speak up. You can also come up with additional ideas when you look at a problem from someone else's perspective. What's more, Rolestorming is fun, and it's great for helping team members feel more comfortable sharing ideas with each other. It also builds confidence, because shy or less assertive people feel empowered to speak up. Using and Applying Rolestorming Follow these steps to use Rolestorming with your group: 1. Brainstorm Obvious Ideas First, conduct a regular brainstorming session with your group. Not only will this generate some good initial ideas, but it will also highlight the more obvious ideas. This leaves you free to expand your thinking and push boundaries in later steps. 2. Identify Roles Next, decide which roles or identities you'll use. You can assign one role to each person in the group, or play the role collectively, moving on to another role when you're done. The person you choose can be anyone, so long as it's a person not in the current group. Consider people such as a colleague, your boss, a major competitor, someone in public life, a leader from the past, or a friend or family member. Ideally, you should know enough about them to take on their identity for a short time. (They don't necessarily have to be associated with the problem you're trying to solve.) 3. Get Into Character For each role, allow group members a few minutes to get into character. Use these questions to help with this: How does this person see the world? What is this person's personality or attitude likely to be? How would this person solve problems? What are this person's strengths and weaknesses? Make an effort to get into the persona of the character: the more deeply you understand this person's feelings, worldview, and motivations, the better you can use this perspective to generate good ideas. Note: If someone on your team chooses to become a person that everyone knows, such as your boss, a client, or a colleague, make sure that they avoid characterizations that could be harmful or disrespectful. 4. Brainstorm in Character When people have a good sense of the new identity they've taken on, start brainstorming ideas using these new perspectives. Encourage people to use phrases such as "My person..." or "My character..." when presenting ideas - this helps to create the distance that people need to speak freely. Make sure that everyone in the group has an opportunity to speak up and share ideas. (Techniques like Round-Robin Brainstorming can be useful here.) 5. Repeat as Required Repeat the exercise with as many different identities as you need, so that you can generate enough good ideas. Key Points Rolestorming is a simple group brainstorming technique that encourages group members to take on someone else's identity and so come up with new ideas. It was developed by Rick Griggs. To use the technique, group members simply take on the identity of someone else, and come up with ideas that they think the person would suggest. The technique is useful because it helps to break down people's inhibitions about sharing ideas. It can also provoke better ideas, since you're looking at the problem from different perspectives. Share this article:         A Final Note Use Rolestorming next time you have a group brainstorming session - you'll generate more ideas, and you'll have more fun, too! Next week, we're looking at how you can better sell yourself, and your organization, with an elevator pitch. See you then! James Manktelow Email us Mind Tools Essential Skills for an Excellent Career!   Mind Tools will treat your email address with complete respect and will not circulate it to any third party. (Click here to view our Privacy Policy.) If you have enjoyed this issue, please do email it on to your friends and co-workers. 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