For most people, the one tool for creative idea generation that they can cite is brainstorming. It has been around since the 1940s, and its guidelines have been subsumed in most other methods for creative thinking. The groundrules for classic brainstorming support mental movement. See the Thinking Differently 101 course in MI2-U for more information on the role of attention, escape and movement in creative thinking.
Create dozens of ideas addressing specific aspects of a problem or specific desired characteristics of the solution.
It is helpful to post the ground rules so that you can enforce them as needed.
There is no right or best way to conduct the session or capture the ideas. Experiment with several different ways and use whatever is comfortable for you, with consideration given to the remaining tips in this section.
If there are individuals in your group who tend to dominate, or ones that tend to sit silently, consider using some method to even out the participation. For example, you might give everyone a few minutes to silently write down their ideas on individual cards and then either pile them up in the middle of room and read them randomly, or go around one-by-one with each person giving one idea when it is his or her turn.
When capturing ideas on a flip-chart sheet, be careful not to edit or reinterpret ideas expressed by others. Write down what they say; it is their idea. If someone is being vague or long winded, you can suggest a line that captures the idea, but only suggest it and ask them if you have it right.
The advantage of capturing ideas on individual adhesive notes or index cards is that you can flexibly sort and group ideas later on. This can be particularly useful if the group is large and, therefore, generates a lot of ideas. Duplicate and very closely related ideas can be grouped easily.