Ask HN: Do you brainstorm regularly?

4 points·jaytee_clone··3 comments

1. How often do you brainstorm?

2. Do you do it for work or for fun?

3. Do you do it by yourself or with others?

4. What brainstorming techniques do you employ?

I just think. I first strive to understand a concept, and then I put myself in the shoes of the actors affected by the concept. It evolves in my mental vision, and abstractions flutter around, interact, and connect in appropriate places. Eventually I have a pretty complete Vision in the abstract, the interesting implementation details mostly worked out and the uninteresting details glossed over.

This is often most effective in the course of a shower, kinda my meditation time under the water, allowing my mind to drift and play with interesting problems. However, I use the same approach for problems at the workplace or pretty much any problem I encounter in life.

I believe less in random brainstorms and more in looking at the big picture. Also, I do not mind trying things out, even if they seem improbable, just to see if they work anyway. There is a certain limit to dreaming about things. I balance the practical with my problem-solving.

My boss likes to "brainstorm", I don't. These meetings are usually filled with half-baked plans that tend to break later on and me after a few weeks left fixing the mess.

I rather tend to take a philosopher's walk and think things through. Then I try to forget about it and work on something else for a while so that the plan develops.

Rarely, usually only when I'm stuck on a problem or before I begin long-term planning for a website. It's usually both work and fun. By myself. No techniques, just a fat sharpie marker and lots of blank scrap paper. Sometimes I tape up pages to the wall around my desk to help visualize ideas.

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