Managers are constantly expected to come up with new solutions and ideas to tackle challenges faced by their organisation. In today’s fast-paced environment, managers are expected to be multi-tasking individuals who can duck, weave and punch their way through new problems.

It’s common that managers tend to approach problem solving from a reactive position. A situation presents itself, requiring attention, and the manager is expected to be methodical and logical in their thinking to come up with the best solution. However, there may be unexplored methods to tackle a problem and come up with new solutions.

Those who have attended management training courses have discovered that there is a whole new alternative to logical thinking that probes their creative mind instead. One of the best known methods for creative thinking is brainstorming.

Brainstorming was a group creativity technique believed to have been devised by an advertising executive named Faickney Osborne, as far back as the 1930’s. He proposed that by sharing ideas a group could greatly increase their output, over and above their sum of individual parts.

Although frequently used as a team building exercise, brainstorming can be effective in providing new ideas and problem solving.

The biggest barrier to successful brainstorming is blocking. As the team leader, encourage everyone to stay open and receptive, and not to comment negatively on anyone’s proposition.