AI Prompts for Brainstorming

You are a creative strategist helping brainstorm ideas for {{challenge}}.

Context:
- Domain: {{domain}}
- Target audience: {{target_audience}}
- Constraints: {{constraints}}
- What has already been tried: {{existing_attempts}}

Generate {{num_ideas}} distinct ideas. For each idea:

### Idea #[n]: [Catchy Name]
- **One-line description:** What it is in plain language
- **How it works:** 2-3 sentences explaining the mechanism
- **Why it might work:** The insight or leverage point
- **Biggest risk:** The main reason it could fail
- **First test:** The cheapest, fastest way to validate this idea (under {{test_budget}} and {{test_timeline}})
- **Excitement score:** Rate 1-10 on novelty and potential impact

Ordering rules:
- Ideas 1-5: Safe, proven approaches adapted to this context
- Ideas 6-15: Creative combinations — merge concepts from different domains
- Ideas 16-{{num_ideas}}: Wild cards — unconventional, potentially controversial, high-risk/high-reward

Do NOT list variations of the same idea. Each must be genuinely different in mechanism, not just framing.

Apply the SCAMPER creative thinking method to {{subject}} for {{purpose}}.

Current state of {{subject}}:
{{current_description}}

Work through each SCAMPER lens systematically:

## S — Substitute
What components, materials, processes, or people could be replaced?
- What if we replaced {{key_element_1}} with something from {{different_industry}}?
- What if we used a completely different technology/approach for the core function?
- Generate 3 substitution ideas.

## C — Combine
What could be merged, bundled, or integrated?
- What if {{subject}} also did {{adjacent_function}}?
- What two unrelated products/services, if combined with {{subject}}, would create something new?
- Generate 3 combination ideas.

## A — Adapt
What could be borrowed from other contexts?
- How does {{analogous_industry}} solve a similar problem?
- What idea from nature, history, or a completely different field could apply here?
- Generate 3 adaptation ideas.

## M — Modify (Magnify / Minimize)
What if we changed the scale, shape, or intensity?
- What if {{subject}} were 10x bigger? 10x smaller? 10x faster? 10x cheaper?
- What if we exaggerated the most important feature and eliminated everything else?
- Generate 3 modification ideas.

## P — Put to Other Uses
Who else could use this? What else could it do?
- What market or user segment was never intended but might benefit?
- What if the "waste product" of {{subject}} became the main product?
- Generate 3 alternative use ideas.

## E — Eliminate
What could be removed entirely?
- What if we removed the feature everyone assumes is essential?
- What if we cut the price to zero and found another way to capture value?
- Generate 3 elimination ideas.

## R — Reverse (Rearrange)
What if we flipped the order, direction, or roles?
- What if the customer did the work instead of us (or vice versa)?
- What if we started from the end result and worked backward?
- Generate 3 reversal ideas.

## Top 5 Picks
From all 21 ideas above, select the 5 most promising and explain why.

Run a reverse brainstorming session for: "How might we {{goal}}?"

Instead of generating solutions directly, we will first brainstorm how to CAUSE the opposite outcome, then reverse each idea into a solution.

Context: {{context}}
Current challenges: {{current_challenges}}

## Step 1: Invert the Problem
The reversed question is: "How could we GUARANTEE that {{opposite_of_goal}}?"

Generate {{num_ideas}} ways to make the problem as bad as possible:

| # | How to Make It Worse | Why This Would Be Devastating |
|---|---------------------|------------------------------|
| 1 | ... | ... |

Be creative. Think about:
- Process failures that would ensure {{opposite_of_goal}}
- Cultural behaviors that would sabotage progress
- Technical decisions that would make recovery impossible
- Communication breakdowns that would maximize confusion

## Step 2: Reverse Each Idea
For each "make it worse" idea, flip it into a positive solution:

| # | Reversed Into Solution | How to Implement | Effort | Impact |
|---|----------------------|-----------------|--------|--------|

## Step 3: Cluster & Prioritize
Group the reversed solutions into themes:

### Theme A: [name]
- Solutions: #[n], #[n], #[n]
- Common insight: what these share
- Quick win: the easiest one to try first

### Theme B: [name]
...

## Step 4: Action Plan
For the top 3 solutions:
1. What to do in the next 48 hours
2. Who needs to be involved
3. How to measure if it's working

Create a comprehensive mind map for {{central_topic}} with the goal of {{purpose}}.

Context: {{context}}

## Mind Map: {{central_topic}}

### Level 1: Main Branches
Identify {{num_branches}} major dimensions/categories of {{central_topic}}. These should be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive (MECE).

For each main branch:

### Branch: [Name]

**Level 2 — Sub-topics (3-5 per branch):**
- Sub-topic A
  - **Level 3 — Details (2-3 per sub-topic):**
    - Detail 1
    - Detail 2
    - Detail 3

**Cross-connections:** How does this branch relate to other branches? List at least 2 connections:
- [This branch] + [Other branch] → [insight from the connection]

## Structured Output

```
{{central_topic}}
├── Branch 1: [name]
│   ├── Sub-topic 1a
│   │   ├── Detail
│   │   └── Detail
│   ├── Sub-topic 1b
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Cross-links: → Branch 3 (reason), → Branch 5 (reason)
├── Branch 2: [name]
│   └── ...
```

## Insights
After mapping, identify:
1. **Gaps:** Areas with few details — these need more research
2. **Clusters:** Areas with heavy overlap — these might be the core of the topic
3. **Surprises:** Unexpected connections between branches
4. **Priority areas:** Based on {{purpose}}, which branches deserve the most attention?

## Next Steps
For each priority area, suggest one concrete action to explore it further.

Run a constraint removal brainstorming exercise for: {{challenge}}.

Current constraints we operate under:
{{current_constraints}}

## Phase 1: Name Every Constraint
List ALL constraints — real and assumed — that limit how we approach {{challenge}}:

| # | Constraint | Type | Real or Assumed? |
|---|-----------|------|-----------------|

Types: Budget | Time | Technical | Legal/Regulatory | Cultural | Resource | Knowledge | Political | Physical

Be thorough. Most teams undercount their constraints by 50% because they treat assumptions as facts.

## Phase 2: Remove One at a Time
For each constraint, ask: "If this constraint did not exist, what would we do?"

| Constraint Removed | What Becomes Possible | Best Idea |
|-------------------|----------------------|-----------|

## Phase 3: Challenge the "Real" Constraints
For constraints marked "Real," ask:
- Is this permanently real, or temporarily real?
- Who imposed this constraint? Could it be renegotiated?
- What would it cost to remove this constraint? Is that cost worth it?
- Has anyone in any industry solved this constraint?

| Constraint | Challenge Question | Finding |
|-----------|-------------------|---------|

## Phase 4: Combine Removals
What if we removed 2-3 constraints simultaneously?
Pick the most powerful combinations:

| Constraints Removed | Combined Possibility | Feasibility |
|--------------------|---------------------|-------------|

## Phase 5: Bring Constraints Back Gradually
Take the best ideas from Phase 2 and 4. Now reintroduce constraints one by one:
- Which ideas survive with all constraints back?
- Which ideas survive with most constraints but need 1-2 removed?
- Which ideas require a fundamental constraint change — and is that change worth pursuing?

## Top 3 Actionable Ideas
Ideas that work within current constraints OR require only one achievable constraint change.

Use analogical thinking to generate solutions for: {{challenge}}.

Domain: {{domain}}
Current approach: {{current_approach}}
Why it's not working: {{current_limitation}}

## Step 1: Find Analogies
Identify {{num_analogies}} domains outside of {{domain}} that solve a structurally similar problem:

| # | Analogous Domain | Their Problem | Their Solution | Structural Similarity |
|---|-----------------|--------------|---------------|---------------------|

Search in these categories:
- **Nature/biology** — how does evolution solve this?
- **History** — what historical figure/civilization faced this?
- **Sports** — what strategy addresses this dynamic?
- **Architecture/engineering** — what physical design principle applies?
- **Music/art** — what creative process parallels this?
- **Medicine** — how does the body handle this?
- **Military strategy** — what tactical principle applies?
- **Economics/game theory** — what market mechanism addresses this?

## Step 2: Extract Principles
For each analogy, extract the underlying principle that makes it work:

| Analogy | Principle | In Plain English |
|---------|-----------|-----------------|

## Step 3: Transfer to Our Domain
Apply each principle to {{challenge}}:

### Principle: [name]
- **From:** [analogous domain] — how they apply it
- **Applied to {{domain}}:** Specific implementation idea
- **Why it might work:** The structural reason the transfer holds
- **Why it might NOT work:** Where the analogy breaks down
- **Test:** How to cheaply validate this transfer

## Step 4: Combine Principles
Which principles could work together? Identify 2-3 combinations that create something genuinely novel.

## Top Recommendations
Rank all ideas by:
1. Novelty (how different from current approach)
2. Feasibility (can we actually do this?)
3. Impact potential (if it works, how big is the upside?)