Wrapping Up a Brainstorm

There’s more to finishing a brainstorm than simply calling the meeting to an end.

The last 15-20 minutes should be devoted to wrapping up a brainstorm in three parallel steps.  Each examines and analyses the initial ideas on the flip charts, and finds ways to transition them into something useful and tangible.

Using a bit of helpful spelling, the three phases all end in “-fy” – Clarify, Amplify and Verify.

1. Clarify means using explicit and agreed-upon criteria to quickly sort the 10% good ideas from the 90% not-so-good ideas. This post explains creative criteria in more detail. This post explains the 90-10 Rule in more detail.

2. Amplify means to combine and merge the average, mediocre and half-ideas together, creative better ideas.

3. Verify means to check to ensure the ideas will do what you need them to do.