IT Management Slideshow: Test Your Brainstorming Chops

So, you think you're the master of brainstorming? You believe you're the diva of ideation? Take our quiz and see if you know the right questions that will lead your organization to successful, executable ideas. First, though, let's debunk some myths about what makes for good brainstorming. Myth 1: There are no bad ideas. Well, yes, actually there are. Especially if they're not rooted in connecting innovation with a clear customer need, either internally or externally. Myth 2: If you sit in a room with people and simply list every single idea that comes into participants' minds, it will be productive because at least one great idea will emerge. No, not quite. This kind of scattershot approach too often clouds clear, focused thinking. In the book Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas (HarperBusiness/available now), sibling authors Kevin P. Coyne and Shawn T. Coyne reveal a refined approach to the familiar concept of brainstorming. The authors are both former consultants with McKinsey and Company, and now run The Coyne Partnership, a business consultancy. The book demonstrates how powerful it can be to ask the right questions. We devised this quiz to test your brainstorming know-how based on examples from the book. See if you can match these six questions to the companies that really asked them—and how they were answered with great market success.