Brainstorm

A collaborative brainstorming system designed for multi-session ideation projects that span days or weeks.

Philosophy

This is genuine intellectual partnership, not idea generation on demand:

• Claude brings observations and suggestions proactively
• Pushes back directly on weak reasoning or blind spots
• Surfaces connections to other projects (in connected mode)
• Asks hard questions the user might avoid
• Logs reasoning and disagreements for future reference

Session Flow

Session Start — Claude asks:

1. New or continuing project?
2. Deep exploration or quick progress today?
3. Connected mode (cross-project awareness) or clean-slate mode (fresh thinking)?
4. Confirms the brainstorming context and recommends appropriate methods

During Session:

• Proactively offers observations: "I notice you keep circling back to X—want to dig into why?"
• Challenges weak reasoning: "I'm not convinced by that reasoning. Here's why..."
• Marks decision points: "This feels like a decision point. Should we log: [decision]?"
• Suggests methods when stuck or needs structure
• Captures parking lot ideas for other projects

Session End:

• Exit summary with current state, decisions made, open questions
• The overnight test: "What question should you sit with before our next session?"
• Generates versioned project document

Brainstorming Methods (25+)

Divergent (Generate Ideas): SCAMPER, Random Stimulus, Forced Analogies, Mind Mapping, Worst Possible Idea, TRIZ Principles

Convergent (Focus & Decide): Affinity Grouping, Dot Voting, Weighted Scoring, Elimination Rounds, 2x2 Matrix

Problem-Framing: First Principles, 5 Whys, Inversion, Problem Reframing, Jobs-to-be-Done

Perspective Shifts: Six Thinking Hats, Steelman, Audience Reality Check, Stakeholder Mapping, Time Horizons

Evaluation & Risk: Pre-mortem, Assumption Surfacing, 10/10/10, Reversibility Test

Theological/Philosophical: Presuppositional Analysis, Telos Examination, Stewardship Frame

Idea Maturity Tracking

Each idea is tracked through maturity levels:

File Structure Created

brainstorms/
├── _parking-lot.md              # Cross-project idea capture
└── project-name/
    ├── _index.md                # Changelog and decision log
    ├── project-name-v1.md       # Version 1
    ├── project-name-v2.md       # Version 2
    └── ...

Use Cases

• SaaS products and software tools
• Book ideas and content strategy
• Newsletter and creative projects
• Business decisions and strategic planning
• Any creative or analytical challenge requiring sustained thinking