Idea Cyclone is a high-energy, facilitator-led brainstorming methodology. It moves participants through three distinct, progressively challenging rounds of idea generation. Unlike traditional brainstorming, it emphasizes a rapid, out-loud, collaborative process within small teams, where ideas are immediately shared to inspire others. The dynamic is designed to create a "cyclone" of creativity, starting broad and gradually uncovering more unique and disruptive solutions.

Overcome Creative Blocks: The fast pace and multi-round structure force participants to exhaust their "go-to" ideas quickly, making way for more innovative thinking.

Maximize Quantity for Quality: It operates on the principle that a large quantity of ideas is the best source for a few high-quality, breakthrough concepts.

Enhance Collaboration: The "out-loud" generation process ensures that team members are actively listening and building upon each other's contributions in real-time, fostering a highly synergistic environment.

Produce Actionable Outcomes: It doesn't just end with a wall of sticky notes. The built-in dot-voting phase creates a clear, prioritized list of winning ideas and a categorized backlog for future reference.

Phase 0: Setup & Ground Rules (5 min)

1. Form Teams: Divide participants into small teams of 4-5 people.

2. Explain the Challenge: Clearly state the problem or topic for the ideation session.

3. Set the Ground Rules: The facilitator communicates the core principles:

   • No Bad Ideas: Defer judgment. The goal is volume.
   • Build on Others' Ideas: Actively listen and use others' thoughts as a launchpad. This is the most critical rule.
   • Be Brief: One idea per sticky note. A short phrase is enough.
   • Encourage Disruption: Don't be afraid to challenge assumptions.

Phase 1: The Initial Burst (15-20 min)

1. Collective Out-Loud Generation (5-7 min): Within each team, participants start calling out ideas. There's no set order. As ideas are spoken, a designated scribe (or each person) writes them on sticky notes. The goal is to create an energetic conversation, aiming for a team total equivalent to 8-10 ideas per person.
2. Post on the Board: Teams post their sticky notes on a designated section of the main board.
3. Share & Group: A spokesperson from each team briefly presents key themes that emerged.

Phase 2: The Deepening Wave (15-20 min)

1. The New Challenge: The facilitator instructs the teams: "Now, generate a new wave of ideas. The challenge is they must be completely new concepts, not variations of what's already on the board."
2. Collective Out-Loud Generation (5-7 min): The process repeats. Teams aim to generate the equivalent of 4-5 new ideas per person.
3. Post and Share: New sticky notes (ideally a different color) are added to the board.

Phase 3: The Unexpected Twist (15-20 min)

1. The Final Challenge: The facilitator gives the final prompt: "For this last round, let's push the boundaries. Think of ideas that break a current rule or assumption of our project. What becomes possible if we remove a key constraint (like budget, time, or a specific technology)?"
2. Collective Out-Loud Generation (5 min): Teams have a final, focused conversation to generate 2-3 of these disruptive ideas per person.
3. Post and Share: The final ideas are added to the board.

Phase 4: Convergence & Prioritization (15 min)

1. Thematic Grouping: The facilitator, with help from the teams, groups similar ideas from all rounds into thematic clusters.
2. Dot Voting: Each participant receives 3 to 5 dot stickers. They walk up to the board and place their dots on the ideas they believe have the most potential.
3. Identify Winners: The ideas with the most dots are identified as the "Winning Ideas."