This is your roadmap for a creative session that actually works. Six phases, two days, one simple goal: turn a blank page into ideas worth making. Follow the steps, trust the process, and watch what happens when you stop trying to be brilliant and start being productive.
SESSION TIME
00:00:00
1
Load the Chamber
30 min
Brief the team and share everything they need to know about the product.
- Write the Strategic Anchor question on the wall
- Brief the team on the product truth
- Share stimulus: competitive work, cultural references, user insights
- Get everyone literally handling the product if possible
2
Rapid Fire
60 min
Use the triggers to generate as many ideas as possible. Don't stop to judge them.
- Set timer for 60 minutes
- Work through triggers in Category A, then B, then C, etc.
- Spend 5-7 minutes per trigger
- One person captures everything. Words, sketches, whatever.
- NO DISCUSSION of idea quality
- "Yes, and..." responses only
- Target: 100+ raw ideas
3
Cooling Period
Overnight
Take a break. Sleep on it. Come back tomorrow with fresh eyes.
- Stop
- Let ideas rest overnight
- Subconscious continues working
- Return fresh
4
Controlled Detonation
90 min
Go through all your ideas, group the similar ones, and pick the best to develop.
- Review all captured ideas
- Group similar ideas together
- Each person identifies their top 5 that make them smile
- Discuss why those ideas work
- Identify the ideas that could be "big": campaignable, extensible, ownable
- Select 3-5 for development
5
Structural Engineering
2-3 hours
Take your selected ideas and work them into proper, presentable concepts.
- Write the idea in one sentence
- Sketch the simplest possible execution
- Identify what makes it work (the mechanism)
- Explore variations
- Pressure-test: Does it ladder to the strategy? Is it legally ownable? Is it producible?
- Refine language: headline, tagline
6
Explosion Test
Variable
Score each idea against 8 criteria to see which ones are actually good.
- Score honestly against all 8 criteria
- Kill weak ideas mercilessly
- Refine survivors
A Typical Brainstorming Timeline
DAY 1
Phase 1: Load the brief, define your product benefit.
30m
Phase 2: Rapid fire ideas. Get as many as you can.
60m
OVERNIGHT
Phase 3: Cooling period. Let them sit overnight.
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DAY 2
Phase 4: Controlled detonation. Work on the best ideas, think, combine and improve the good ones, kill the weak ones.
90m
Phase 5: Structural engineering. Get your best ideas into a presentation, refine slogans and visuals.
2-3h
Phase 6: Explosion test. Does your big idea pass all the criteria?
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