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Exercises/Ideation Warm-Ups & Brainstorming
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Exercises for Ideation Warm-Ups & Brainstorming

Short structured prompts push a group to generate many possible ideas quickly, before narrowing to a direction, using techniques like forced connections or rapid listing. Reach for one right before a brainstorm or design session to loosen up thinking.

This category groups exercises by shared theme, based on what the exercise actually asks people to do.

232 exercises

Awestruck 3 Minutes

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

How Might We…

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Skill Will Matrix • WorkshopBank

Team Reflection · Under 5 minutes

Image brainstorming - Project of How

Prompted Conversation · Under 5 minutes

SCAMPER • WorkshopBank

Ideation Warm-Up · 30 to 60 minutes

Personal Buzzfeed

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

12-3 Brainstorm

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Random words! - Project of How

Prompted Conversation · Under 5 minutes

Idea boxes

General Collaboration Exercise · 5 to 15 minutes

Creative Problem Solving • WorkshopBank

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Idea Speed Dating - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 30 to 60 minutes

50 Word Epiphany

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Use Your Amygdala

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

The Emperor’s Thumb

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Serial Jolts

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

Exercises - Page 2 - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

15% Solutions • WorkshopBank

General Collaboration Exercise · 5 to 15 minutes

7Ps Framework

Applied Improv · 5 to 15 minutes

Responses to NO

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Phone Stacking

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Synesthesia

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

TIME WASTERS

Personal Disclosure · Under 5 minutes

Place Your Bets

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Divergent Thinking - Mind Map Style

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Obama Argue it Out

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Hot Potato Tags Timing

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Cups and Straws

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

Brain shifter - Project of How

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Q Test

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Business Books

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Twenty-Two Habits for Better Creativity

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Prediction Markets

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

TGM: March 2006

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

brainstorming - Project of How

Prompted Conversation · 30 to 60 minutes

idea generating - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Team Role Development • WorkshopBank

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Image-ination

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Drawing for Success - Toast

Visual Thinking · 5 to 15 minutes

Silence - Netflix Style

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Concerns in a Hat

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Impromptu Networking

Prompted Conversation · 5 to 15 minutes

Generate ideas - Page 2 - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Pecha Kucha

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

One Word Whip

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Backchannel Screen

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

The Relationship Start-up

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Fishbowl

Circle Dialogue · 5 to 15 minutes

Crazy 8s

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Brainwriting

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

idea volume - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Ideas marketplace

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

Metaphors

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

People Science Phone-A-Friend

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

6 Building and Shifting the Discourse

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

8 Practicing Deliberation with Others

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Phillips 6/6

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Restart Your Morning

Collaborative Story Building · 5 to 15 minutes

Elephant in the Room

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

I Like, I Wish, I Wonder

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

say yes! - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Plus/Delta

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

4 Markers for Your Odds

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Build The Checklist

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Too Fast Too Slow

Prompted Conversation · 5 to 15 minutes

3 Seeking Innovation

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Braindrawing - Project of How

Visual Thinking · 30 to 60 minutes

Nippon! - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 60+ minutes

Jeffersonian Meals

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Sound for the Source

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Random Inputs

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

The Pitch

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Triangles

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

New Personality Research

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Situationist Drift

General Collaboration Exercise · 5 to 15 minutes

Hackman’s Five-Factor Model Workshop • WorkshopBank

General Collaboration Exercise · 15 to 30 minutes

auditory - Project of How

Prompted Conversation · Under 5 minutes

Concept Route

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

PFP: July 2002

Relationship Mapping · Under 5 minutes

Walk in the Door - Big Share

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Porter's Five Forces • WorkshopBank

Applied Improv · 5 to 15 minutes

Affinity diagram

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Rain Maker

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Feedback - Plus/Delta

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Idea Storm

Applied Improv · 5 to 15 minutes

Speed Networking People Science Style

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Luck in an Envelope

Adventure Initiative · 5 to 15 minutes

One Simple Post-It for Success

Arrival Check-In · 5 to 15 minutes

TRIADS

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Feel or Be in AWE

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Mandela Strategies

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Crazy 8

Visual Thinking · 5 to 15 minutes

Big Solutions in a Box Walk

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Action Needed: Issue, Challenge, Idea, Purpose, Timing

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Anticipating Challenges

Prompted Conversation · 5 to 15 minutes

101+ Group Line-Up Strategy Ideas - Fun Ways To Form Group Lines

Team Reflection · Under 5 minutes

Quick Share Experiments

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

Air Time Mastermind

Name Learning · 5 to 15 minutes

dance - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

TIME SAVERS

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Point to Present

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

8 Encouraging Bold Imagination

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

WhoDo

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

The Kipling method - Project of How

Prompted Conversation · 30 to 60 minutes

Product Pinocchio

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Curiosity Quotient

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Growth Mindset Workshop • WorkshopBank

Introductions · 15 to 30 minutes

Round Robin • WorkshopBank

Circle Dialogue · 5 to 15 minutes

Brainstorming

Prompted Conversation · 15 to 30 minutes

Quick Team-Building Exercise For Connection - Lumberjack Stack

Relationship Mapping · Under 5 minutes

Urban Sketching

Visual Thinking · 5 to 15 minutes

Gamestorming

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Pixar Critique Sessions

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Whip Around - The Teacher Toolkit

Prompted Conversation · 5 to 15 minutes

Structure projects - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Brainwriting • WorkshopBank

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

The Sunset

Visual Thinking · 5 to 15 minutes

Interactive Partner Energiser to Build Quick Thinking - Your Add

Relationship Mapping · Under 5 minutes

TGL: July 2009

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Smarter Faster Better Workshop • WorkshopBank

Applied Improv · 5 to 15 minutes

Radical Candor Workshop • WorkshopBank

General Collaboration Exercise · 5 to 15 minutes

Affinity Frame

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Peacock Focus

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Walk About

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

3-1 - The Teacher Toolkit

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Saturate and Group

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

App Kick-Off - Long Term Digital Connections

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

Creative Icebreaker Activity for Building Imagination - If Then

Relationship Mapping · 5 to 15 minutes

poster - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Reverse Brainstorming • WorkshopBank

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Minute Ideas

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

small groups - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

build on ideas - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Mask Making

Visual Thinking · 5 to 15 minutes

visualization - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Prune The Future

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

concept structure - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Switch it brainstorm - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

create - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

25/10 Crowd Sourcing • WorkshopBank

General Collaboration Exercise · 15 to 30 minutes

development - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Black Swan Workshop • WorkshopBank

Personal Disclosure · 5 to 15 minutes

The Fish Bowl

Prompted Conversation · 5 to 15 minutes

Min Specs • WorkshopBank

General Collaboration Exercise · Under 5 minutes

C.I.A. (Crazy Idea Brainstorm) - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · Under 5 minutes

Draw Your Feelings

Team Reflection · 5 to 15 minutes

Read Weirdly Widely

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

What’s in Your Toolkit

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Visualize it! - Project of How

Ideation Warm-Up · 15 to 30 minutes

Lo Tech Social Network at TEDx Austin

Ideation Warm-Up · 5 to 15 minutes

Group dynamics - Project of How

Introductions · 5 to 15 minutes

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