These tools help you come up with lots of new ideas in a short space of time. You’ll soon realise that finding new ideas is easy, it’s finding good ideas that take time.

But as the Nobel Prize winning scientist Linus Pauling once said, the secret to having good ideas is to have lots of ideas and throw the bad ones away.

Have a look at some tips on how to make your brainstorms work, then try these techniques:

1. Lateral nudge
2. Metaphor mash
3. Mind mapping
4. Concept mapping
5. Multiple maps
6. Steal from the heart
7. Steal from a Thesaurus
8. Break the rules
9. Mission Impossible
10. Look harder inside the box
11. SCAMPER
12. Brainwriting

If you’ve already got an idea that you want to make stronger, try these idea development tools instead.