Brainstorming

---
name: brainstorming
description: Apply when generating ideas, exploring solution space, or facilitating divergent thinking before committing to an approach.
license: MIT
version: 1.0.0
tokens_target: 1100
triggers:
  - brainstorming
  - idea generation
  - divergent thinking
loads_after: []
supersedes: []
---

# Sub-Skill: Brainstorming

**Purpose:** Maximize the quality of the eventual solution by ensuring sufficient exploration of the solution space before converging on an approach.

---

## Rules

### Divergence First

1. **Generate before evaluating.** Always complete a divergent generation phase before applying any evaluation criteria; premature judgment kills creative options.
2. **Produce at least three alternatives.** Always generate at least three distinct alternatives before committing to an approach. Reference: ERR-2026-028
3. **Quantity over quality early.** Prefer producing many rough ideas over polishing a single idea during the generation phase; refinement comes later.
4. **Loosen constraints deliberately.** Before generating, explicitly list the constraints you are relaxing (time, cost, technology) to open the solution space.

### Structured Exploration

5. **Timebox each phase.** Always set explicit time limits for divergent and convergent phases to prevent open-ended exploration from blocking delivery.
6. **Use silent generation first.** Before group discussion, have each participant (or reasoning thread) generate ideas independently to avoid anchoring bias.
7. **Apply devil's advocate.** After generating options, explicitly argue against the leading option to surface hidden weaknesses before committing.
8. **Build on ideas, don't replace them.** Prefer extending or combining existing ideas over discarding them; hybrid solutions often outperform pure alternatives.

### Convergence

9. **Define decision criteria upfront.** Before evaluating options, agree on the criteria (performance, cost, maintainability) and their relative weights.
10. **Categorize before ranking.** Group ideas by theme or approach before ranking; ranking ungrouped lists misses structural patterns.
11. **Document rejected alternatives.** Always record why alternatives were rejected so future contributors understand the decision context.

---

## See also

- `skills/self-extension-workflow/SKILL.md`
- `skills/error-log/SKILL.md`