Ask HN: Do you brainstorm regularly?

I just think. I first strive to understand a concept, and then I put myself in the shoes of the actors affected by the concept. It evolves in my mental vision, and abstractions flutter around, interact, and connect in appropriate places. Eventually I have a pretty complete Vision in the abstract, the interesting implementation details mostly worked out and the uninteresting details glossed over.

This is often most effective in the course of a shower, kinda my meditation time under the water, allowing my mind to drift and play with interesting problems. However, I use the same approach for problems at the workplace or pretty much any problem I encounter in life.

I believe less in random brainstorms and more in looking at the big picture. Also, I do not mind trying things out, even if they seem improbable, just to see if they work anyway. There is a certain limit to dreaming about things. I balance the practical with my problem-solving.

My boss likes to "brainstorm", I don't. These meetings are usually filled with half-baked plans that tend to break later on and me after a few weeks left fixing the mess.

I rather tend to take a philosopher's walk and think things through. Then I try to forget about it and work on something else for a while so that the plan develops.

Rarely, usually only when I'm stuck on a problem or before I begin long-term planning for a website. It's usually both work and fun. By myself. No techniques, just a fat sharpie marker and lots of blank scrap paper. Sometimes I tape up pages to the wall around my desk to help visualize ideas.