Brainstormer

Category: Creative | Module: mycontext.templates.free.creative

Facilitates structured brainstorming using proven divergent-then-convergent techniques. Goes beyond simple idea listing to include reverse brainstorming, role-play ideation, constraint removal, idea clustering, and prioritized selection of top ideas.

When to Use

• Product feature ideation
• Business model exploration
• Marketing campaign concepts
• Problem-solving under constraints
• Name, title, and positioning brainstorms
• Innovation workshops
• Any creative challenge needing quantity + quality

Quick Start

from mycontext.templates.free.creative import Brainstormer

brainstormer = Brainstormer()

ctx = brainstormer.build_context(
    topic="Ways to reduce customer churn for our SaaS product",
    goal="Find creative retention strategies that can be tested in Q1",
    constraints=["Budget under $50k", "Must be implementable in 4 weeks"],
)
result = ctx.execute(provider="openai")
print(result.response)

Methods

build_context(topic, goal="Generate creative solutions", context=None, constraints=None)

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
topic	str	""	The brainstorming topic
goal	str	"Generate creative solutions"	What a successful brainstorm produces
context	str | None	None	Background information
constraints	list[str] | None	None	Constraints to work within

execute(provider, topic, goal, context=None, constraints=None, **kwargs)

result = brainstormer.execute(
    provider="openai",
    topic="New product features for our developer tool",
    goal="10+ concrete feature ideas for our Q2 roadmap",
    constraints=[
        "Must be buildable in 2-week sprints",
        "No new backend infrastructure",
        "Must appeal to senior engineers",
    ],
)

15-Step Brainstorming Framework

The pattern runs through a comprehensive facilitation structure:

Step	Technique	Purpose
1	Warm-up	Get creative thinking flowing
2	Topic Framing	Define what's in/out of scope
3	Ground Rules	Defer judgment, encourage wild ideas
4	Rapid Generation	30+ quick-fire ideas
5	Build-On Session	"Yes, and…" extensions of top ideas
6	Reverse Brainstorm	What would make it worse? (then flip)
7	Random Stimulus	Force unexpected connections
8	Role Play Ideation	What would Jobs/a child/a competitor suggest?
9	Constraint Removal	Unlimited resources moonshots → scaled down
10	Category Exploration	Technology, process, people, partnership ideas
11	Idea Clustering	Group related ideas into themes
12	Dot Voting	Prioritize by potential
13	Top Ideas Refinement	Polish the winners with rationale and first steps
14	Dark Horses	Flag unconventional but potentially transformative ideas
15	Next Steps	Immediate actions and follow-up session

Examples

Product Ideation

result = brainstormer.execute(
    provider="openai",
    topic="New monetization models for our free open-source tool",
    goal="5 viable revenue streams to test",
    context="Currently 50k GitHub stars, 2k daily active users, no revenue",
)

Marketing Campaigns

result = brainstormer.execute(
    provider="anthropic",
    topic="Launch campaign for our AI writing assistant",
    goal="10 campaign concept directions with distinct angles",
    constraints=["$20k budget", "Digital channels only", "Launch in 3 weeks"],
)

Team Problem Solving

result = brainstormer.execute(
    provider="gemini",
    topic="How to improve our engineering team's delivery speed",
    goal="Actionable process improvements that don't require headcount",
    context="10-person team, 2-week sprints, 40% time spent on bugs",
)

Constraints vs. No Constraints

When to set constraints

Constraints are productive in brainstorming — they force creativity within real boundaries. But also include "constraint removal" in the session to discover what's possible before scaling back. The pattern does both.

# With constraints — practical ideas
brainstormer.execute(
    topic="Office redesign",
    constraints=["$10k budget", "No structural changes", "Done in a weekend"],
)

# No constraints — bigger ideas, then scale
brainstormer.execute(
    topic="Office redesign",
    goal="Dream office concepts we could work toward over 3 years",
)

Output Format

The output is an energetic, structured brainstorm document:

## 4. RAPID IDEA GENERATION
1. [Idea 1]
2. [Idea 2]
...
30+. [And more]

## 6. REVERSE BRAINSTORM
Bad idea: [Guaranteed failure]
Flipped: → [Creative solution derived from reversal]

## 13. TOP IDEAS REFINEMENT
**Idea #1**: [Memorable Name]
- What it is: [One-line description]
- Why exciting: [Core promise]
- How to test: [Validation approach]
- First step: [This week]

API Reference

Method	Returns	Description
build_context(topic, goal, context, constraints)	Context	Assembled context
execute(provider, topic, goal, context, constraints, **kwargs)	ProviderResponse	Execute brainstorm
generic_prompt(topic, goal, context_section, constraints)	str	Zero-cost prompt string