Rolestorming – what if you were someone else?

Rolestorming is one type of a popular method of generating ideas called “brainstorming,” which we wrote about here. The creator of “rolestorming” is Rick Griggs. Rick Griggs developed this technique in order to make those taking part in brainstorming feel more comfortable. The feeling of comfort is supposed to be provided by the principle of generating ideas by means of considering a given problem from another person’s perspective. According to Griggs, this makes those participating in a brainstorming session less uncomfortable and more creative. They are more willing to share their ideas.

Why rolestorming?

Griggs believed that the traditional approach to brainstorming has many shortcomings that make the method ineffective. Rick Griggs pointed out that:

• People by nature tend to support the ideas that seem most obvious or that are reported first.
• Individuals participating in brainstorming are accompanied by anxiety and fear of expressing ideas that may be controversial and may meet with disapproval from other participants in the session.
• There are difficulties in considering problems from a different perspective.
• Among the brainstorming participants, there is always a dominant personality who, by his or her behavior, suggests to others which ideas are better (or worse) than others.

Rolestorming requires participants to “step out of their own skin and step into someone else’s.” This experience allows them to think about a problem or possible solutions in innovative ways – and often come up with out-of-the-box ideas.

Principles of rolestorming

Rolestorming resembles a kind of game with several rules. These are:

• Decide what role you will play in the game. It could be someone you know – a customer or a supplier, it could be a public figure, a politician or a show business star. Remember that the role you choose must not refer to a rolestorming participant taking part in the game.
• Describe your character’s personal qualities, strengths, weaknesses and motivations. Ask yourself questions: what would I do in this person’s place, what would I care about, what solution would be satisfying?
• During the game, formulate messages using “I” – get into your role.
• Forget about limitations (such as money, personnel, materials, time, infrastructure).

If the number of generated ideas is too small, you can assign new roles to participants and repeat the “game” one more time.

The process of rolestorming itself and the selection of ideas is similar to traditional brainstorming.