The big idea: A brainstorm only works when you go wide before you choose: a focused How Might We, seven rules that keep judgment out of the room, and more than one technique turn one question into hundreds of ideas, and a deliberate vote turns them into a few worth prototyping.
In 60 seconds
- Split a broad challenge into focused How Might We questions, one per board, so every idea has a clear target.
- Seven rules keep judgment out and ideas flowing; a good session reaches 100 ideas an hour, and the class reached 345.
- Close the diverge round on purpose, then cluster, vote and keep a safe, a stretch and a wild idea to prototype.
Do this: post one HMW per board, run a classic round and at least one other technique, then dot-vote and write why each top idea made the cut.
How brainstorming works
How brainstorming works in BUAD 317
Your HMWs go in. Hundreds of ideas come out.
Class 9 is where the How Might We questions you built from your interviews turn into a wall of ideas. You go wide first and choose later. If you took IB 407 in London, Ideation That Goes Somewhere is your refresher. This page adds what BUAD 317 does on top of it.
Our design challenge
Every board starts from one shared question.
“How might we connect the Haslam College of Business with the Greater Knoxville business community in mutually beneficial ways?”
The BUAD 317 class challenge
Mutually beneficial is the hard part. An idea that helps Haslam but costs a business owner time with nothing back will not last.
Where brainstorming fits
Synthesis narrows. Brainstorming opens wide again.
Text version, and what each part of Ideation holds
- Inspiration opens wide as you learn from people, then narrows on what you learned.
- Ideation opens again into many ideas, then narrows toward prototypes. Brainstorming is that second opening.
- Implementation keeps narrowing as you test and pilot.
- Synthesis: download your learnings; find themes and insights; craft HMW questions.
- Brainstorming: brainstorm rules; top ideas.
- Prototyping: storyboard; rapid prototyping; test and get feedback; integrate feedback and iterate.
What a brainstorm is for
Go wide now. Choose later.
Text version of this diagram
- Diverge: generate as many ideas as you can, from practical to impossible. No one judges, no one edits.
- Converge: cluster, vote and pick a few ideas worth prototyping, with a clear reason for each.
- Mixing the two kills a brainstorm. The moment someone says “that won’t work,” the room stops offering ideas.
From one challenge to five questions
Split a big challenge into focused HMWs.
Text version of this diagram
- The class challenge: HMW connect Haslam with the Greater Knoxville business community in mutually beneficial ways? It is too broad to brainstorm well.
- It was split into five focused HMWs, one per board, so every idea had a clear target: Relationship; Visibility and Awareness; Alumni; Business Engagement (Ease + ROI); Mutual Value.
- The five boards held 345 sticky-note ideas in all. Each small note in the drawing stands for about ten ideas.
The five boards, April 8, 2026
Five questions, each aimed at one theme.
RelationshipQ1
“How might we foster more meaningful and ongoing relationships between Haslam and the business community?”
Visibility & AwarenessQ2
“How might we make opportunities for engagement between Haslam and the business community more visible and actionable?”
AlumniQ3
“How might we create more natural and valuable ways for alumni to engage with both Haslam and the business community?”
Business Engagement (Ease + ROI)Q4
“How might we make it easy and worthwhile for businesses to engage with Haslam?”
Mutual ValueQ5
“How might we help Haslam and the business community quickly recognize and realize mutual value?”
Brainstorming has rules
Most people have brainstormed. Few know there are rules.
SSafetySay the idea on your mind, half-formed or not.
MMomentumIdeas build on each other.
VVolumeKeep going past the obvious ideas.
What the seven rules protect, and why
Brainstorms fail in predictable ways: early criticism, one loud voice, side chats, a slow trickle of ideas. The seven rules guard against each one by protecting three things.
- Safety: everyone says the idea on their mind, half-formed or not.
- Momentum: ideas build on each other instead of competing.
- Volume: the room keeps producing long after the obvious ideas run out.
Rules 1 to 3: open the room
Make it safe to say the idea on your mind.
Rule 1 · Defer judgment
“Write it down. We’ll sort later.”
You never know where a good idea will come from. There will be time to pick the most promising ones later.
Rule 2 · Encourage wild ideas
“What if money and technology were no object?”
Wild ideas often spark creative leaps. They show what people really want, free of today’s limits.
Rule 3 · Build on the ideas of others
“Yes, and…” / “To build on that…”
Building takes skill. Instead of challenging an idea, take it and make it better.
Rules 4 to 7: keep it moving
Stay on track, make it visible, make it many.
- Stay focused on the topicKeep the HMW posted where everyone can see it, or ideas drift past what you are designing for.
- One conversation at a timeCreative leaps happen when everyone is paying full attention to the idea on the table.
- Be visualA sketch beats a paragraph. Stick figures are people too. Post ideas where the team can build on them.
- Go for quantityCrank ideas out fast now. Volume is how you find the few worth keeping.
All seven rules in one list
- Defer judgment.
- Encourage wild ideas.
- Build on the ideas of others.
- Stay focused on the topic.
- One conversation at a time.
- Be visual.
- Go for quantity.
Summarized from IDEO.org’s brainstorm rules.
The target
Quantity first. You choose later.
100 ideas in 60 minutes
A good session can produce up to 100 ideas in an hour. That means short ideas, posted fast, one per sticky note, sketched when you can. On April 8, 2026, the class beat it: 345 ideas across five boards in one session.
Run the room
A good facilitator keeps the energy up and the judging out.
Facilitator’s checklist
- Post the HMWWrite it at the top of the board, big enough to read from across the room.
- Hand out suppliesSticky notes and thick markers for everyone. One idea per note.
- Set a clockShort, timed rounds keep the pace up.
- Read it aloudSay each idea as you post it, so others can build on it.
- Guard the rulesStop judging the moment it starts. Redirect side conversations.
- Re-spark a stallSwitch boards, flip the HMW, or bring in a new technique.
Mix your techniques
Run a classic brainstorm. Then switch it up.
Technique 1
Silent sticky notes
Everyone writes alone for five minutes before anyone speaks. Quiet teammates get heard, and loud ideas don’t anchor the room.
Technique 2
Ladder switch
Brainstorm on your ladder-up HMW, then on your ladder-down HMW. Each level unlocks a different kind of idea.
Technique 3
Borrow from elsewhere
How would an airline, an ER or a theme park handle this? Analogies pull you out of the obvious.
Technique 4
Worst idea first
List the worst possible ideas, then flip each one. It loosens the room and often reveals a real constraint.
Technique 5
Build on a tag
Pick one Global Synthesis Tag, such as a pain point or a motivation, and brainstorm only for that.
The real boards
What 345 ideas look like.
Photos from the BUAD 317 brainstorm, April 8, 2026. Ideas on the boards range from a speaker series and a business leaders advisory group to alumni storytelling nights and quick-hit virtual mentoring.
How many ideas each board drew
Two boards drew nearly twice the ideas of the smallest.
Text version of this chart
| Board (HMW) | Approximate notes |
|---|---|
| Relationship | about 87 |
| Alumni | about 83 |
| Visibility & Awareness | about 66 |
| Business Engagement (Ease + ROI) | about 57 |
| Mutual Value | about 47 |
| Total (board export) | 345 |
Reading the wall
Counts show where ideas flowed, not which are best.
Vote and converge
From a wall of ideas to a few worth building.
- Stop generatingClose the diverge round on purpose. Now judging is allowed.
- ClusterGroup duplicates and near-duplicates. Name each cluster.
- Dot voteEach person places a few dots on the ideas they find most promising.
- Move the winners upPull the top-voted notes beside the HMW so everyone sees them.
- Say whyWrite one line on why each idea made the cut.
On several April 8 boards, the class did exactly this: a handful of dotted notes moved up next to the question.
Keep a mix: safe, stretch, wild
Don’t let the vote pick only the easy ideas.
Text version of this diagram
- Safe: doable next month with what exists. From the Alumni board: a better LinkedIn page.
- Stretch: needs new partners or resources. From the Alumni board: an Alumni in Residence program.
- Wild: nearly impossible today, but it reveals what people want. From the Alumni board: VR networking.
Wild ideas rarely ship as written. They often hold the insight that makes the stretch idea work.
From top ideas to prototypes
Your top ideas become things you can test.
SStoryboardSketch how a person meets and uses the idea.
PRapid prototypeBuild the cheapest version that lets someone react.
TTest and get feedbackTake it to the people you designed for.
IIntegrate and iterateChange it, then test again.
Myth or fact
Brainstorm Rules: Myth or Fact?
Call each brainstorming claim a myth or a fact before your team posts its How Might We boards.
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