Brainwriting
Brainwriting is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- In a space visible to the players, write the topic around which you need to generate ideas and draw a picture of it. An example of a topic might be “Employee Recognition Program.”
- Distribute index cards to each player and ask them to silently generate ideas related to the topic and write them on the cards.
- As they complete each idea, ask the players to pass that idea to the person on their right.
- Tell the players to read the card they received and think of it as an “idea stimulation” card. Ask them to add an idea inspired by what they just read or to enhance the idea and then pass again to their right.
- Once finished, collect the cards and ask for help taping them to the wall around the topic and its picture.
- Have the group come to the wall to review the ideas and draw stars next to the ones they find most compelling. Discuss.
- The Brainwriting game is based on the same-named activity in Michael Michalko’s Thinkertoys. Horst Geschke and associates at the Batelle Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, developed a variety of these creative-thinking techniques referred to as “brainwriting.”
- . In a space visible to the players, write the topic around which you need to generate ideas and draw a picture of it. An example of a topic might be “Employee Recognition Program.”
- . Distribute index cards to each player and ask them to silently generate ideas related to the topic and write them on the cards.
- . As they complete each idea, ask the players to pass that idea to the person on their right.
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
In a space visible to the players, write the topic around which you need to generate ideas and draw a picture of it. An example of a topic might be “Employee Recognition Program.”
Distribute index cards to each player and ask them to silently generate ideas related to the topic and write them on the cards.
As they complete each idea, ask the players to pass that idea to the person on their right.
Tell the players to read the card they received and think of it as an “idea stimulation” card. Ask them to add an idea inspired by what they just read or to enhance the idea and then pass again to their right.
Once finished, collect the cards and ask for help taping them to the wall around the topic and its picture.
Have the group come to the wall to review the ideas and draw stars next to the ones they find most compelling. Discuss.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Brainwriting. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: In a space visible to the players, write the topic around which you need to generate ideas and draw a picture of it. An example of a topic might be “Employee Recognition Program.”; Distribute index cards to each player and ask them to silently generate ideas related to the topic and write them on the cards.; As they complete each idea, ask the players to pass that idea to the person on their right.; Tell the players to read the card they received and think of it as an “idea stimulation” card. Ask them to add an idea inspired by what they just read or to enhance the idea and then pass again to their right.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Gamestorming; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (2 sources observed, including Gamestorming, SessionLab.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.