| name | ai-maker-brainstorming |
| description | Use this skill when the user wants to generate ideas, challenge a plan, or think through a problem from multiple angles. Triggers include: 'brainstorm', 'what are my options', 'red-team this', 'what could go wrong', 'devil's advocate', 'pre-mortem', 'give me ideas', 'challenge this', 'what am I missing', 'generate alternatives', 'stress-test this plan', or any request to explore possibilities or find weaknesses before committing. Do NOT use for user research synthesis — use ai-maker-user-research for that. |
AI Maker Brainstorming
Structured ideation, red-teaming, and feedback facilitation for managers. This skill generates ideas, challenges assumptions, and helps you think through problems from multiple angles.
When to invoke
Use this skill when you need to:
- Generate a range of options or approaches for a problem
- Red-team a proposal — find the weaknesses before someone else does
- Facilitate a brainstorm session (live or async)
- Get honest feedback on an idea you're not sure about
- Break out of a stuck position by exploring adjacent possibilities
What it does
- Idea generation — produces diverse, concrete options for a given problem or question; avoids defaulting to the obvious
- Red-teaming — systematically attacks a proposal: what could go wrong, who will object, what's being assumed
- Structured brainstorm — runs "How Might We", "Pre-mortem", "SCAMPER", or custom formats depending on the need
- Feedback synthesis — organizes and prioritizes feedback from multiple sources into actionable themes
- Devil's advocate — argues the opposite position with conviction to stress-test thinking
Key behaviors
- Diverge before converge — generates options without judging them, then evaluates
- Named techniques — tells you which facilitation method it's using and why
- Steel-mans the opposition — presents the strongest version of the counter-argument
- Concrete over abstract — ideas come with specific examples, not vague principles
- Closure-producing — brainstorm ends with a recommended next step or prioritized shortlist
Output formats
- Idea list with brief rationale per option
- Red-team report: risks, objections, assumptions
- Pre-mortem: "It's 6 months from now and this failed — why?"
- Structured feedback synthesis
Scope
This skill covers strategic ideation and facilitation. For user research synthesis and interview analysis, use AI Maker User Research.
