Don’t Be the Bottleneck: Boost Your Brainstorming Game
Created by Brian Tarallo
If you’ve ever facilitated a brainstorming session, you know the drill. Everyone is buzzing with ideas, throwing out thoughts left and right, and suddenly… all eyes are on you. You’re the one with the marker, desperately scrambling to scribble everything down. The energy starts to fade as you try to keep up. Someone stops mid-sentence while you pause the group to confirm, “Wait, what did you say again?”
Congrats, you’ve just become the bottleneck.
The good news? It’s an easy trap to avoid. And the solution is beautifully simple: get participants to write their own ideas. Hand out sticky notes. Open a virtual whiteboard. Share a Google Doc. However you do it, set the rule upfront and stick to it like glue:
Write it out, or it doesn’t count.
Why Writing It Out Works
When participants write their ideas during a brainstorm, it does more than speed things up. It empowers everyone. Instead of you acting as a stenographer (and possibly misinterpreting or simplifying someone’s genius idea), you’re freeing participants to own their contributions. By getting people to write things out themselves, you enable more creativity to flow.
Here’s why it works so well:
You keep the energy moving.
When everyone’s in charge of documenting their own ideas, the process never slows down to wait for the note-taker to catch up. People toss ideas into the mix at their own pace, jotting them down as they go. The rhythm stays uninterrupted, and the excitement builds.
Everyone has clarity.
A written idea is a tangible idea. Each person knows exactly what was written, and more importantly, how it was written. There’s no second-guessing or losing meaning in translation. Plus, it spares everyone the “Wait! I said collaborative, not competitive!” argument.
You foster inclusivity.
Not everyone is eager to shout their ideas out loud in the moment. Some people thrive when they can take just a few extra seconds to think before sharing. Offering them the chance to write before they speak levels the playing field for introverts and extroverts to contribute equally.
You avoid idea loss.
Ever had a brilliant suggestion fly by you mid-session, only to think, “I’ll write it down in a second”... and then it’s gone? Making sure everyone writes as they go reduces the risk of losing those fleeting spark moments of brilliance.
You encourage brevity and clarity.
By constraining participants to what they can write on sticky notes, they have to be concise. This circumvents grandstanding: you can’t fit a dissertation onto a sticky note. Just be careful specific ideas don’t become generalities: “Diversify revenue” is no substitute for “Expand into 3 more regions.”
Tips for Making the Shift
Introducing a "write-it-down" component to your brainstorms might feel like a big shift at first, especially if your team is used to verbal free-for-alls. But with a few practical adjustments, you’ll get everyone on board in no time.
Start by setting the expectation.
Begin every brainstorm with a clear guideline:
Write it out, or it doesn’t count! Remind the group that this isn’t about policing ideas or being rigid; it’s about keeping the energy high and making sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
Use tools that fit your group.
Whether you’re in-person or online, have the right tools ready to go. For face-to-face sessions, stock up on sticky notes, markers, and flipcharts. For virtual meetings, try shared tools like Miro, Jamboard, or a trusty Google Doc. Make it easy and intuitive for participants to write.
Create time for reflection and sharing.
Build pauses into the session where everyone can silently jot down their thoughts before sharing. A quick 5-minute “write, then discuss” process gives even the quietest member of the team a chance to contribute without interruption.
Visualize the results.
Pool the ideas together in a way that lets everyone see the full picture. Collect sticky notes on a wall, group comments by theme in your shared doc, or cluster virtual Post-its into categories. Seeing the collective creativity in one place is as motivating as it is useful.
The Shift from Bottleneck to Boost
At its core, brainstorming is about tapping into the wisdom of the group. But if you, as the facilitator, fall into the habit of controlling the flow, the session becomes less of a collaboration and more of a single point of failure. Shifting this dynamic by empowering participants to write their own ideas opens the door to more inclusive, productive, and electrifying sessions.
The next time you gather a group to generate ideas, channel this mantra and repeat it like a drumbeat: Write it out, or it doesn’t count! Because when everyone contributes directly, the whole group wins. And who doesn’t love walking away from a brainstorm with a visual landscape of creativity?
Trust me, letting go of the marker never felt so good.
PS: Don’t forget to say, “One idea per sticky note!” Get used to saying this. A lot. My wife has told me I’ve said this in my sleep. It’ll probably be on my tombstone.