What Is Rolestorming? Rolestorming In A Nutshell

Rolestorming as a term was first mentioned by personal development guru Rick Griggs in the 1980s. Rolestorming is a brainstorming technique where participants pretend they are other people when sharing their thoughts and ideas.

Aspect	Explanation
Concept	– Rolestorming is a brainstorming technique that encourages participants to take on different roles or personas to generate creative ideas and solutions. It is a variation of traditional brainstorming and is designed to overcome inhibitions, promote fresh perspectives, and stimulate innovative thinking. Rolestorming allows individuals to temporarily step into the shoes of others, such as fictional characters, historical figures, or professionals from different fields, to explore problems or topics from diverse viewpoints. This approach can lead to novel and unexpected ideas by breaking free from conventional thinking patterns.
Key Components	– Rolestorming involves several key components: – Roles or Personas: Participants are assigned or choose roles to embody during the brainstorming session. These roles can be fictional characters, experts in specific fields, or even objects (e.g., a chair or a tree). – Creative Exploration: Participants think, speak, and generate ideas from the perspective of the role they’ve assumed, allowing them to think beyond their usual limitations. – Idea Generation: The primary goal is to generate a wide range of ideas and potential solutions, often without judgment or criticism during the initial phase. – Collaboration: Rolestorming can be done individually or in groups, encouraging collaboration and the exchange of diverse viewpoints.
Application	– Rolestorming is applied in various settings, including creative problem-solving, innovation workshops, team-building exercises, and product development. It is particularly useful when tackling complex problems that require unconventional thinking and when seeking innovative solutions to challenges. Rolestorming can also be employed in education to enhance students’ critical thinking and creativity.
Process Flow	– Rolestorming follows a structured process: – Role Assignment: Participants are assigned or choose roles to take on during the session. – Creative Exploration: Participants immerse themselves in their assigned roles, adopting the mindset, characteristics, and perspectives of the personas they’ve assumed. – Idea Generation: While embodying their roles, participants generate ideas, solutions, or responses to a specific problem or question. – Idea Sharing: Ideas are shared and discussed within the group, often followed by a more traditional brainstorming phase for refining and prioritizing concepts.
Benefits	– Rolestorming offers several benefits: – Diverse Perspectives: It encourages participants to think from various viewpoints, fostering creativity and innovation. – Reduced Inhibition: Rolestorming can help individuals overcome the fear of judgment, as they are expressing ideas from the perspective of a role rather than their own. – Idea Generation: It leads to the generation of a wide range of ideas, some of which may be unconventional and breakthrough solutions. – Team Building: When done in groups, rolestorming enhances collaboration and team cohesion.
Challenges	– Challenges associated with rolestorming may include: – Role Immersion: Participants may find it challenging to fully immerse themselves in their assigned roles, leading to less authentic contributions. – Role Appropriateness: Selecting appropriate roles for a given problem or context can be challenging, as some roles may not be relevant or conducive to idea generation.
Real-World Application	– Rolestorming is commonly used in creative industries, such as advertising and design, to spark innovative ideas. It is also applied in team-building workshops, product design, and scenario planning exercises in various sectors.

Understanding rolestorming

Griggs developed his approach to address several shortfalls of a traditional brainstorming session. These include:

A tendency for people to support the first or most obvious idea.
A tendency for one or two individuals to overshadow quieter types during the ideation phase.
An inability for some individuals to consider other perspectives or think creatively on-the-spot, and
The anxiety some feel when suggesting ideas in a group setting or to those they do not know well.

Rolestorming is used to help a brainstorming team overcome their inhibitions during a meeting.

In theory, each team member is more likely to generate creative ideas while pretending to be someone else.

Lastly, it is important to note that rolestorming is not an idea-generating process on its own. Rather, it should be incorporated to complement existing brainstorming approaches.

Rolestorming types

The identity each team member assumes will largely depend on the task at hand. For example, a participant may play:

A senior member of corporate management.
A superhero, supervillain, or another fictional character with a well-understood character type.
A troublesome or demanding customer or client.
A prominent historical figure.

Whichever identity is assumed, each participant must be able to describe the personal qualities and motivations of their new character. They must also understand their real or imagined strengths and weaknesses and refer to themselves in the first person when speaking.

Implementing rolestorming

The most creative rolestorming sessions occur by focusing on opportunities first, preventions second, and problems third.

Creative ideas should be written on a large sheet of paper or whiteboard.

Rolestorming is then graphically represented by a bulls-eye in the middle with outer rings like an archery target.

The largest and most outer ring houses creative ideas, with the second-largest ring displaying the winners from the first vote of ideas.

Immediately adjacent to the bullseye is the third ring, which displays the winners from the second vote.

To be voted on, each creative idea must answer the original profile statement in terms of opportunities, preventions, and problems.

The center circle shows the idea representative of group consensus.

To incorporate rolestorming into a typical brainstorming process, follow these steps:

The facilitator gives each team member a few minutes to think about their role and get into character

As mentioned earlier, the individual needs to consider their new identity’s personality, worldview, strengths, weaknesses, and problem-solving ability.

With everyone assuming the identity of someone else, the facilitator begins the first stage of ideation

Everyone must be given a chance to speak from their unique perspective, with a jovial and somewhat informal atmosphere encouraged.

If appropriate, the facilitator can encourage individuals to interact with each other.

The facilitator then begins a second and third round of rolestorming, with new ideas written next to existing ideas in the outer circle

To keep things fresh, participants may choose to adopt a new identity for each subsequent round.

The list of generated ideas should then be analyzed. Which are the most relevant to the profile statement?

Which ideas are actionable, feasible, and attainable in the timeframe specified?

Key takeaways

Rolestorming is a brainstorming technique where participants pretend they are other people when sharing their thoughts and ideas.
Team members engaged in a rolestorming session can assume any identity provided it has some relevance to the task or problem at hand. These identities include a senior executive, irate customer, superhero, or prominent historical figure.
Rolestorming is not a standalone ideation strategy. Instead, it must be incorporated into one of the many brainstorming frameworks available to businesses today.

Key Highlights of Rolestorming:

Origin and Purpose: Rolestorming is a brainstorming technique introduced by personal development guru Rick Griggs in the 1980s. It aims to enhance traditional brainstorming by overcoming its limitations, such as favoring obvious ideas and the dominance of a few participants.
Addressing Shortfalls in Brainstorming:
- Rolestorming was developed to address issues in traditional brainstorming, including early idea support, overshadowing of quieter participants, difficulties in considering multiple perspectives, and anxiety in group settings.
Enhancing Creativity Through Pretense:
- In rolestorming, participants assume different personas or identities when sharing ideas.
- Pretending to be someone else encourages participants to think more creatively and from diverse perspectives.
Complement to Brainstorming:
- Rolestorming is not a standalone ideation process but is intended to complement existing brainstorming approaches.
Types of Identities:
- Participants can adopt various identities depending on the task, including senior corporate figures, fictional characters, demanding customers, or historical figures.
- Each participant must understand and embody the characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations of their chosen identity.
Implementation:
- Creative rolestorming sessions typically prioritize opportunities, preventions, and problems.
- Ideas are graphically represented on a target-like diagram, with the outer rings containing creative ideas, winners from votes, and the central circle representing the group consensus idea.
- Rolestorming is incorporated into a brainstorming process by having participants assume roles, consider their character’s attributes, and engage in multiple rounds of ideation from these perspectives.
Analyzing Generated Ideas:
- Generated ideas are analyzed for relevance to the problem statement, feasibility, and actionability within the specified timeframe.
Key Takeaways:
- Rolestorming encourages creative thinking by having participants adopt different personas during brainstorming.
- It offers a fresh perspective and helps overcome common brainstorming challenges.
- Rolestorming should be integrated into existing brainstorming frameworks to enhance the ideation process.