Brainstorm for a brainstorm

While talking to Lloyd Davis yesterday, the mirthless Merthyr ruling that the word 'brainstorm' should not be used, as it could be offensive....the suggestions, as I blogged the other day were 'ideas cascade' or 'blue sky thinking', but neither seems right to me. I've been told that 'brain dump' is also used, but I don't think that will catch on.....

So, what else? Clearly we need to blue-sky this one down the ideas cascade....brain-frenzy? idea-lightning? thoughtflow? brainsparking (that's brain-sparking, not brains parking)? ideation?

The key to any successful brainsparking session is the principle of "Yes and", rather than "Yes, but"...which is not a bad one to apply more generally in life as well.

Comments

[Lloyd]

When I did some work for DfES this year, I heard use of the term "thought shower", with various degrees of irony. I do like the weather motif - I'm quite attracted to "idea blizzard", "brain hurricane" and "neural tornado" - but let's keep away from "brain fog" and "suggestion drizzle".

[Global Ideas Bank]

I like the idea of a 'neural tornado'. However, on a Friday afternoon, it's more likely to be a mental mugginess. A brain breeze is needed to clear the headclouds away.....

[Don The Idea Guy]

What's this about a ruling that the term "Brainstorm" could be offensive??

[John Töns]

Syncopated synaptic musings on a theme?

[Global Ideas Bank]

Hi Don: it was a regional council in the UK who pulled up one of their members for it. Some sectors have stopped using it (replacing it most often with 'thought shower'), as it was deemed offensive to those suffering from epilepsy (I think a fit was originally called a brainstorm). Personally, I think the word has probably moved far enough from those original meanings, but there you go....

[John]

Cerebral upheaval! (It rhymes if you use US pronunciation).
I'd choose 'ideation'. I've always thought that 'brainstorm' sounds a bit frivolous.

[james]

who the heck though up this unreadable colour scheme?
I am not going to trouble myself trying to read this page...