GPT Has Changed Brainstorming Forever — 6 Incredible Prompts for Ideation to Use With Your Team

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If there’s one thing that keeps the creative heart beating, it’s brainstorming. The electric dance of ideas, where minds come together and spark like a chorus line of fireflies. Yet, the traditional way of doing things is going the way of the dodo bird, the “throw ideas at the whiteboard and see what sticks” days are over. With the rise of GPT tools (like Jasper.ai), however, we’ve got a new beat, a new rhythm for the dance.

One of the most well-known of these approaches is the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process, which champions divergent thinking, exploration of multiple possibilities, and the use of prompts to stimulate new ideas. And then there’s the “design thinking” methodology, which emphasizes empathy, observation, and experimentation — a methodology close to my heart, I must admit.

But with the rapid pace of technological advancement, even these traditional methods of brainstorming are starting to feel a bit… outdated. The days of markers squeaking on whiteboards, lost notepads, sticky notes, and endless Word documents are numbered. Indeed, with the advent of GPT tools like Jasper.ai, brainstorming has undergone a revolution — becoming faster, more efficient, and, dare I say it, better.

These cutting-edge tools harness the power of prompts to guide individuals and teams in exploring new perspectives and tapping into the unexpected. By taking a more objective and streamlined approach, they’re able to unlock the full potential of the brainstorming process like never before. GPT tools have changed the tempo of brainstorming, making it more effective and — dare I say it — downright exhilarating.

So farewell, traditional conference rooms, and all your accouterments. With GPT tools at our fingertips, we’re ushering in a brave new era of brainstorming — one that promises to unleash the wildest, most inventive ideas the world has ever seen.

Let’s take a step-by-step journey into this new world of brainstorming leveraging GPT technology.

Practical note, before we start the brainstorming process, we’ll want to create a “📝 brainstorming document” in your team's content management tool of choice like Notion, google-docs, etc. This is where we will store the content we’re generating and discussing.

STEP ONE | Start With The End in Mind — Create Your Brainstorming Purpose Statement

Define the rhythm — Set the tempo, the goal, and the purpose. This is the foundation, the drumbeat that keeps us all in sync. Get everyone involved to buy in on the goal of the brainstorming session and the objectives that need to be achieved. This will help you identify the key areas of focus for the session.

Here’s an example of a brainstorming purpose statement that clearly defines the goal and purpose of a brainstorming session:

“Our purpose in this brainstorming session is to explore innovative and effective solutions for improving our company’s customer experience. Our Goal: We want to identify ways to create a seamless and personalized experience for our customers, from the moment they first interact with our brand to the point where they make a purchase and beyond. Our objective is to develop a range of ideas that are both practical and out-of-the-box, taking into consideration the latest trends in technology and customer behavior. By the end of this session, we aim to have a list of actionable ideas that can be further developed into a roadmap for enhancing our customer experience.”

This purpose statement provides a clear direction for the brainstorming session, outlining the specific goal and objectives of the exercise. It also sets the tone for the session, emphasizing the importance of creativity and innovation, as well as the practical considerations of implementing ideas in the real world. Having a well-defined purpose statement can help participants stay focused on the task at hand, providing a reference point for the prompts and ideas generated during the session.

Your Purpose Statement Should Have the Following Elements

1. Purpose: Defining the purpose helps the participants to understand the main objective of the session and keeps the conversation on track.
2. Goal: Setting a clear goal helps the participants to focus on the desired outcome and align their ideas towards achieving it.
3. Objective: Defining the objective gives a direction to the discussion and helps to create a range of ideas that are both innovative and feasible.
4. Expected Outcome: Having a clear expected outcome sets a target for the participants and motivates them to generate ideas that can be practically implemented.

Meta Prompt — Generate Your Purpose Statement using GPT.

Now you might spend more time creating code rather than crafting purpose statements, so here’s a GPT prompt to help you combine the basic concepts of the purpose statement into a more eloquent statement… simply modify the purpose/goal/objective/outcome sections with your information. You can also add context about your specific company here if you wish.

Prompt: “We are about to have a brainstorming session, I would like you to create a 1–2 eloquently worded “purpose statement” to help our team understand the importance of our stated purpose, goals, objectives, and expected outcomes. Reference the following when creating the purpose statement…

Our Purpose: explore solutions for improving the company’s customer onboarding and usage experience.
Our Goal: Create a seamless and personalized experience for customers, from the moment they first interact with the brand to the point of making a purchase and beyond.
Our Objective: develop a range of ideas that are practical and out-of-the-box, taking into consideration the latest trends in technology and customer behavior.
Our Expected Outcome: create a list of actionable ideas that can be further developed into a roadmap for enhancing the customer experience.

Yes, I used the above prompt to generate the purpose statement for this example.

STEP TWO — Let GPT Guide The Way

Follow the lead — We’re going to let GPT take the lead, by using prompts and their outputs to guide the way. These prompts are like the master of ceremonies, coaxing out fresh ideas and unearthing insights we didn’t know we had. The goal here is to generate discussion points for the team.

Give each member of your team one or a set of the following prompts to work with, have them work on their own to gather their outputs from your GPT tool of choice. Note, Jasper.ai has a business class feature that teams can easily use to collaborate in a brainstorming session. You can also do this together with your team in a group session and execute the following prompts together.

Note: If you’re not working in a team setting, you can follow the same processes, just do the discussion phase with yourself and a nice cup of scotch 🥃.

The Prompts

“What if” prompts.

“What if” prompts are designed to encourage creative thinking and explore alternative solutions. For example, the conceptual prompt of “What if we could create a seamless and personalized experience for our customers, from the moment they first interact with our brand to the point where they make a purchase and beyond? How would that impact our business?” is a type of prompt that allows participants to think outside the box, and consider new possibilities that might not have been explored before. It can help to identify potential breakthrough ideas and new directions for the project.

A more detailed version of the prompt: “In the context of our product which helps people do their job better by managing their tasks with their team, What if we could create a seamless and personalized experience for our customers, from the moment they first interact with our brand to the point where they make a purchase and beyond? How would that impact our business? Give 5 ways it would impact our business, for each of the 5 ways, include 1–3 action steps we would need to take to implement.”

Example Output via Jasper.ai Chat

Example output using Jasper.ai Chat

📝 Add The Output to Your Brainstorming Document

Challenge prompts.

Challenge prompts are designed to stimulate thinking by posing a difficult question or problem that requires a creative solution. For example, “How can we reduce the cost of production by 30% without sacrificing quality?”. This type of prompt can help to challenge assumptions and promote creative thinking, encouraging participants to think beyond the usual limitations and consider more unconventional solutions.

A more detailed version of the prompt: “In the context of our product which helps people do their job better by managing their tasks with their team with our software, how can we create a seamless and personalized experience for our customers, from the moment they first interact with our brand to the point where they make a purchase and beyond — WITHOUT increasing our costs, headcount, and without sacrificing quality. Give 5 ideas, for each of the 5 ways, include 1–3 action steps we would need to take to implement.”

Example Output…

Example Output

📝 Add The Output to Your Brainstorming Document

Association prompts.

Association prompts are designed to encourage participants to make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts. For example, “How is a pencil like a rocket ship?”. This type of prompt can help to unlock new insights and ideas, by forcing participants to think creatively and make connections they might not have otherwise considered.

A more detailed version of the prompt: “In the context of improving our company’s customer onboarding experience, imagine that our product is a restaurant. How can we design our software to create a seamless and personalized experience for our customers, from the moment they first interact with our brand to the point where they make a purchase and beyond in this context? List 5 ideas that could help us achieve this goal. For each idea, provide 1–3 action steps we would need to take to implement it.”

Example Output

📝 Add The Output to Your Brainstorming Document

Solution-oriented prompts.

Solution-oriented prompts are designed to encourage participants to focus on finding specific solutions to problems. For example, “How can we reduce customer churn by 20% within the next quarter?”. This type of prompt can help to identify actionable ideas and concrete solutions, rather than vague or general concepts. Note its specificity; it has a specific goal (reduce churn) and a time frame (next quarter).

Let’s Get Meta For A Moment — Identifying Potential Problems With GPT’s Help…

Now, with all these prompt directions, we can actually get “meta” and ask our GPT tool of choice to generate a list of ideas for us to consider. Obviously, we will have a clear understanding of our company's unique challenges, but we may also be “too close to the problem” to see hidden problems; GPT can help.

Here’s an example of a more complex prompt that can help us identify hidden problems…

Seed Content: (problems we have already identified.)

1. Our website traffic has been stagnant for the past few months.

2. We have been experiencing a high rate of employee turnover in the marketing department.

3. Sales of our new product have been slower than anticipated.

Instructions: (Context our GPT tool) Using the seed content provided, please generate a list of potential hidden problems that our business may be facing. Consider factors such as market trends, customer behavior, and internal operations. Please provide at least 10 ideas to explore.

Command: (Command our GPT tool) “Please generate a list of potential hidden problems that our business may be facing, based on the seed content above.

Example Output From The Above Prompt

Back to our Solution-Oriented Prompt…

A more detailed version of the prompt: “Below is a list of some of the current challenges in our business in order of priority, for each identify 3–5 suggestions on how we can solve the given problem, for each recommend a reasonable time frame to accomplish the goal of solving the problem, also include specific KPI’s for us to consider.
{your list of problems}”

Solution Oriented Prompt Example Output…

📝 Add The Output to Your Brainstorming Document

Contrarian prompts.

Contrarian prompts are designed to stimulate thinking by taking a contrarian view or challenging conventional wisdom. For example, “What if we tried doing the opposite of what our competitors are doing? How might that change our approach?”. This type of prompt can help to shake up existing assumptions and encourage new thinking, leading to fresh perspectives and ideas.

More Detailed Example: “What if our goal was not to create a seamless and personalized experience for customers, but rather to intentionally create friction and challenge customers throughout their journey with our brand? How might this approach ultimately improve the customer onboarding and user experience?”

STEP THREE — Group Brainstorming Discussion

Share the beat — if you’ve been working separately from your team, it’s time to bring your team together, and let the sparks fly. The sharing of ideas, the give and take, and the syncopated beat of conversation is what gives brainstorming its magic.

The discussion of the outputs will prompt (heh) new ideas and perspectives using the ultimate GPT tool, 🧠 your brain.

1. Prepare your team: Before starting the discussion, it is important to make sure that everyone has had time to review and reflect on the ideas generated during the brainstorming session. It may be helpful to provide each team member with a copy of the brainstorming output or a summary of the ideas generated or simply combine all the outputs into a singular brainstorming document that everyone has access to.
2. Define the structure: Establish a clear structure for the discussion, so that everyone knows what to expect. This might include setting time limits for each team member to present their ideas or outlining a specific order for presenting and discussing them.
3. Start with an overview: Begin by providing an overview of the ideas generated during the brainstorming session, to ensure that everyone is on the same page. This can include highlighting any common themes or patterns that emerged, as well as identifying any particularly innovative or out-of-the-box ideas.
4. Encourage discussion: Encourage team members to share their thoughts and perspectives on the ideas generated during the brainstorming session. This can include asking questions, seeking clarification, and sharing personal experiences or insights that relate to the topic at hand.
5. Evaluate each idea: Evaluate each idea on its own merits, taking into consideration its feasibility, impact, and alignment with the company’s overall objectives. Be open to constructive feedback, and avoid dismissing any idea out of hand.
6. Identify next steps: As the discussion progresses, identify any ideas that have potential for further development, and begin to formulate a plan for how they might be implemented. This might include assigning specific team members to take ownership of particular ideas, or setting a timeline for when the ideas will be developed further.
7. Follow up: After the discussion, follow up with team members to ensure that the ideas are being developed further and that progress is being made. Consider scheduling regular check-ins to review progress and ensure that the team stays on track.

STEP FOUR — CREATE A PLAN

Keep the rhythm — The dance isn’t over yet. Keep the beat alive, identify action items, and put the finishing touches on the creative masterpiece that was born from the dance.

To create a functioning plan to execute the goals and objectives identified in the brainstorming session, the team leader and the group can use the OGSM framework. OGSM stands for Objectives, Goals, Strategies, and Measures, and it is a popular approach to strategic planning. Here’s how the team leader and group can use OGSM to create a functioning plan:

1. Objectives: The team leader and group can start by defining the overall objectives for improving the company’s customer experience, based on the ideas generated during the brainstorming session. These objectives should be specific, measurable, and achievable, and should align with the company’s overall mission and values. The team leader can use GPT prompt-based means to further define and refine the objectives.
2. Goals: Once the objectives have been defined, the team leader and group can break them down into specific goals, each with a clear and actionable outcome. These goals should be aligned with the objectives and should provide a roadmap for achieving them. The team leader can use GPT prompt-based means to help define the specific goals.
3. Strategies: Next, the team leader and group can identify the specific strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve the goals. These might include specific marketing campaigns, product improvements, customer service initiatives, or other actions that will improve the customer experience. The team leader can use GPT prompt-based means to generate potential strategies and tactics.
4. Measures: Finally, the team leader and group can identify the specific measures that will be used to track progress and evaluate the success of the plan. These might include metrics like customer satisfaction scores, sales figures, or other indicators of success. The team leader can use GPT prompt-based means to identify potential measures that will be useful for tracking progress and evaluating success.

By using the OGSM framework, the team leader and group can create a functioning plan to execute the goals and objectives identified during the brainstorming session. This plan will provide a clear roadmap for improving the company’s customer experience and will ensure that the team is aligned and focused on achieving specific outcomes.

CALL TO ACTION: Want me to explore in detail how to create an OGSM action plan from your brainstorming document? Let me know in the comments!

In the end, the benefits of using GPT in your brainstorming sessions are many. They create a chorus of ideas that are faster, more varied, and more profound than traditional brainstorming.