Brainwriting / 6-3-5

Origin. Rohrbach's 6-3-5 method (1968); the empirical corrective to Osborn's verbal brainstorming.

Mechanism. Removes production blocking (only one person can speak at a time), evaluation apprehension, and social loafing by making generation silent, simultaneous, and attributable-to-no-one. Nominal groups reliably outproduce interacting groups; brainwriting recovers the interaction without the interference.

Procedure. 6-3-5: six participants, three ideas each, five minutes, then pass the sheet. Each round builds on what is on the received sheet. Six rounds yields 108 idea-slots in thirty minutes.

Applies to. Any group over four, and any group with a status gradient.

Limitations. Ideas are shallow by construction — five minutes for three. It is a divergence engine, not a deliberation.