“It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.” - Alex Osborn

“Thinking up” was a concept by Alex Osborn of BBDO ad agency in 1942. That same year, Osborn released the book, “How to Think Up,” which covers the importance of generating as many ideas as possible. The practice of “thinking up” saved the agency by increasing their revenue to over $100 million by 1953. Osborn coined the term brainstorming in his next book “Applied Imagination.”

Here are Osborn’s Brainstorming Methods that can be applied to most decisions or quandaries that arise.

1. Focus on Quantity

2. Avoid Criticism

3. Encourage Wild Ideas

4. Combine and Improve Ideas

A pathetic side note confession: I saved my rejection letter from BBDO NY from twenty years ago. It was a long shot that I would have been hired so I was excited to simply have their letterhead.