Structured Brainstorming
Iron Law
DIVERGE BEFORE YOU CONVERGE
Phases
1. Diverge
Generate 10+ ideas without filtering. Quantity over quality at this stage.
- Write every idea down, no matter how wild
- No criticism, no evaluation, no "that won't work"
- Build on previous ideas — combine, extend, invert
- Include at least 2 unconventional or boundary-pushing ideas
- Goal: fill the possibility space before narrowing
2. Cluster
Group ideas by theme or approach.
- Identify natural groupings (e.g., "UI improvements", "backend optimizations", "new capabilities")
- Label each cluster with a descriptive theme name
- Note ideas that span multiple clusters — these are often the most interesting
- Look for gaps: are there obvious clusters with no ideas?
3. Evaluate
Score each idea on three dimensions (1-5 scale):
| Dimension | 1 | 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility | Requires new infrastructure, unknown tech, or months of work | Can be built with current stack in days |
| Impact | Marginal improvement, few users affected | Transformative for core use case, affects all users |
| Effort | Large team, long timeline, high coordination | Solo developer, short timeline, self-contained |
Calculate a composite score: (Feasibility + Impact) - Effort
Rank all ideas by composite score.
4. Converge
Select the top 3 ideas and for each provide:
- Summary: One-sentence description
- Why this one: What makes it high-value
- Risks: What could go wrong or block progress
- Next steps: 2-3 concrete actions to move forward
- Dependencies: What needs to exist before this can start
Red Flags — If You Catch Yourself Thinking:
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "We only need 3-4 good ideas" | You need 10+ raw ideas to find 3 good ones. Diverge FIRST. |
| "That idea is unrealistic, skip it" | Write it down anyway. Unrealistic ideas inspire realistic ones. |
| "I can evaluate while brainstorming" | Evaluation kills creativity. Diverge and evaluate are SEPARATE phases. |
| "The first idea is obviously the best" | The first idea is the most obvious, not the best. Keep generating. |
Rules
- Generate 10+ ideas before evaluating ANY of them
- No criticism or filtering during the Diverge phase
- Give every idea equal initial weight — do not pre-rank
- Output a ranked list with scores, risks, and next steps for the top 3
