Brainstorming

Source: obra/superpowers

Overview

This skill provides a structured brainstorming approach using Socratic questioning to deeply understand problems before jumping to solutions.

Socratic Discovery Protocol (2025)

Interactive questioning protocol used by agents to discover user intent:

1. Assume Nothing: Ask clarifying questions instead of making assumptions in ambiguous situations.
2. Query the 'Why': Ask "Why are we choosing this architecture?" before a technical decision.
3. Think Beyond: Analyze side effects by asking "How will this change affect the system 2 steps from now?".
4. Human-in-the-loop: Request approval/feedback via notify_user for critical decisions.

The Socratic Approach

Instead of immediately providing solutions, ask clarifying questions:

1. Problem Clarification

"What specific problem are you trying to solve?"
"Who will be using this solution?"
"What happens if this problem isn't solved?"
"What have you already tried?"

2. Scope Definition

"What's the minimum viable version?"
"What features are must-haves vs nice-to-haves?"
"What are the constraints (time, budget, tech)?"
"What can we defer to a later phase?"

3. Success Criteria

"How will you know if this is successful?"
"What metrics matter?"
"What does 'done' look like?"
"Who needs to approve this?"

4. Risk Assessment

"What could go wrong?"
"What are the biggest unknowns?"
"What dependencies exist?"
"What's the rollback plan?"

Brainstorming Session Structure

Phase 1: Understand (15 min)

• Listen to the problem statement
• Ask clarifying questions
• Identify key stakeholders
• Map the current state

Phase 2: Explore (20 min)

• Generate multiple solutions
• No criticism at this stage
• Build on ideas
• Consider unconventional approaches

Phase 3: Evaluate (15 min)

• Review each option
• Identify pros/cons
• Consider feasibility
• Rank by impact vs effort

Phase 4: Refine (10 min)

• Select top 1-3 approaches
• Detail implementation
• Identify first steps
• Assign ownership

Question Templates

For New Projects

1. "Describe what you're building in one sentence"
2. "Who is the primary user?"
3. "What's the #1 thing they need to accomplish?"
4. "What existing solutions are they using today?"
5. "Why isn't the current solution working?"

For Bug Fixes

1. "What is the expected behavior?"
2. "What is the actual behavior?"
3. "When did this start happening?"
4. "Can you reproduce it consistently?"
5. "What changed recently?"

For Architecture Decisions

1. "What are the key quality attributes? (performance, scalability, maintainability)"
2. "What's the expected load/scale?"
3. "What's the team's expertise?"
4. "What systems does this integrate with?"
5. "What's the 5-year vision?"

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

❌ Jumping to solutions before understanding the problem ❌ Assuming requirements without asking ❌ Over-engineering the first version ❌ Ignoring constraints (time, budget, skills) ❌ Solving the wrong problem due to miscommunication

Output Format

After brainstorming, summarize:

## Problem Statement
[Clear, concise description of the problem]

## Key Constraints
- [Constraint 1]
- [Constraint 2]

## Proposed Solutions
1. **Option A**: [Description]
   - Pros: ...
   - Cons: ...
   - Effort: Low/Medium/High

2. **Option B**: [Description]
   - Pros: ...
   - Cons: ...
   - Effort: Low/Medium/High

## Recommendation
[Selected approach with reasoning]

## Next Steps
1. [Immediate action]
2. [Follow-up action]

When to Use

• Starting a new project or feature
• Facing a complex technical decision
• When requirements are unclear
• Before writing code
• When stuck on a problem