Negative Brainstorming Technique

In negative brainstorming, participants generate a list of “bad” solutions to the problem they want to solve. This technique can lead to creative solutions by having groups identify obstacles and work toward reversing them.

Instead of thinking about direct solutions to a problem, negative brainstorming works by identifying ways you could cause or worsen a problem. You then reverse these ideas to find solutions you hadn’t thought of before.

This is technique helps you to solve problems by combining brainstorming and reversal techniques. By combining these, you can extend your use of brainstorming to draw out even more creative ideas.

Brainstorming is a tried-and-true way to come up with ideas in a group. The method is simple: the problem is stated, and the recorder stands in front of a room with a flipchart or a whiteboard.

People in the group say whatever ideas pop into their minds. The recorder writes down all of the comments made.

For example, a team may have a goal to improve sales. Participants can offer “bad” ideas that make the product more expensive or less functional.

The group can set a timer and write as many ideas as possible. They can then discuss the ideas as a group and determine how to turn these negative ideas into positive ones.

Negative brainstorming is usually more focussed than regular brainstorming and the solutions become self-obvious.

Negative brainstorming also ensures that the stakeholders involved out all of their thoughts of why something will not work or cannot be solved on the table.

So the next time you need to create solutions to a problem or build activities to make an idea work, try being negative to get a positive outcome.