Brainstorming

Idea generation is often associated with so called brainstorming where a group of people interact to suggest ideas spontaneously in response to a prompt. The ideation workshop, however, isn't a group brainstorming session. The reason is that the experience with the workshop, and its outcomes, show that collective brainstorming techniques may be inclined towards group think. Also, and although brainstorming may boost the feel-good factor in the group, scientific research suggests that collective brainstorming doesn't produces more or better ideas than the same number of individuals would produce working independently. So, the workshop studio format is such that the participants brainstorm individually, possibly in pairs, and then later come together as a group and discuss each person's ideas, which in turn may yield more ideas. Working individually, however, will only be better once everyone has a clear understanding of the task or problem set for the workshop. Therefore, the participants first come together to get a common understanding of the task or problem at hand and then split off to think about solutions followed by group presentation and the sharing of ideas.

Trail of ideas

'We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books. It is our habit to think outdoors — walking, leaping, climbing, dancing, preferably on lonely mountains or near the sea where even the trails become thoughtful.' So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), who made walking a centerpiece of his philosophy.  And so, too, we can consider the idea as an element of thought in transit, and ideation as a journey that manifests itself in walking, or, "taking an idea for a walk". Walking is, of course, practically and physically beneficial too, but also, as free movement, closely related to creative thought. Indeed, ideation has its own immediate reward and no surprise then that ideators never sit still for long experiencing walking as creative empowerment. Letting one’s thoughts wander, thinking on one’s feet, adapting as one goes along - these are no simple figures of speech but reflect mental and sensory openness. Walking, then, leads to places of discovery - a trail of ideas.