Idea Storm

Idea Storm brainstorming format

Wild Ideas

What bold, no-limits ideas could we imagine if anything were possible?

Wild Ideas is all about removing every constraint and inviting the most imaginative, audacious possibilities. Encourage the team to ignore budgets, timelines, and feasibility for now — the goal is to stretch thinking far beyond the obvious. Remind everyone that 'too crazy' often hides the seed of a brilliant breakthrough, so nothing is off the table at this stage.

Tiny Tweaks

What small improvements could we try quickly and easily right now?

Tiny Tweaks focuses on the low-effort, high-frequency improvements that are easy to implement straight away. These are the small adjustments that don't need a big project plan but can add up to meaningful gains. Encourage participants to think about friction points in their daily workflow and the quick wins that could smooth them out.

Opposite Thinking

What if we reversed our usual approach — what would we do instead?

Opposite Thinking challenges the team to flip a problem on its head and ask what they'd do if they did the exact reverse of the norm. This reversal technique often exposes hidden assumptions and reveals surprisingly practical alternatives. Prompt people to ask 'what's the opposite of how we do this today?' and explore where that leads.

Borrowed Brilliance

What great ideas could we borrow from other teams, industries, or products?

Borrowed Brilliance invites the team to look outside their own bubble for inspiration — other industries, competitors, hobbies, or favourite products. Cross-pollinating ideas from unexpected places is a powerful way to spark innovation. Ask participants what other companies or experiences they admire and how that magic could be adapted to fit your context.

One-Sprint Experiments

What safe experiments could we test within a single sprint?

One-Sprint Experiments grounds the creative energy into something testable within a short, contained timeframe. These are safe-to-fail trials that let the team learn quickly without big commitments. Encourage people to frame ideas as hypotheses with a clear way to measure whether they worked, so the team can decide to keep, tweak, or drop them.

Future Us

Looking back from future success, what ideas got us there?

Future Us asks the team to imagine themselves a year or two from now, having achieved real success, and to reflect on what decisions and ideas made it happen. This prospective hindsight technique helps people think bigger and connect today's actions to long-term goals. Prompt them with 'It's a year from now and we nailed it — what did we do?'

When to use this retrospective

• When your team faces a problem with no obvious solution and needs a fresh wave of ideas to explore.
• At the start of a new project or feature when you want to gather diverse possibilities before narrowing down.
• When creativity feels stale or the same few voices dominate and you want broader, more inclusive participation.
• Ahead of planning sessions to build a rich backlog of options to prioritise.
• Whenever you need to break out of conventional thinking and encourage bold, innovative contributions.

Suggested icebreaker questions

• If you could instantly master any skill to solve a problem at work, what would it be?
• What's the most creative solution you've ever come up with for an everyday annoyance?

Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting

• Defer judgement during the idea-generation phase — no idea should be criticised or dismissed until you reach the grouping and voting stages.
• Use a clear, focused prompt or challenge statement so participants know what problem they're solving for.
• Encourage quantity over quality early on; more ideas mean more raw material to build on later.
• Leverage anonymous contributions so quieter team members and junior staff feel equally safe to share bold thoughts.
• Timebox each phase to keep energy high and prevent the session from dragging or losing focus.
• Always close with concrete next steps and owners so good ideas don't evaporate after the meeting.

Frequently asked questions