Objectives
Learn about brainstorming tools
Engage offers several types of brainstorming tools.
Use a fishbone to brainstorm the possible causes of a specific effect.
Use a CT tree to identify ways to meet customers' needs. CT trees allow you to brainstorm inputs about a critical-to-quality statement.
Use an idea map for general purpose brainstorming. Idea maps allow you to brainstorm ideas about a central question.
Use a mind map to organize related ideas and concepts. Mind maps allow you to brainstorm ideas about a central topic.
Add a brainstorming tool
Add a brainstorming tool to quickly generate and visually organize thoughts.
- From the navigator pane, select Add Tool, then select a brainstorming tool template. Either browse through the list of tools or start typing the tool name in the Search box.
- Select Create to add the tool to your project.
Generate a brainstorm list
In a brainstorming tool, you can quickly generate a brainstorm list by typing items in the task pane or by importing variables from other tools in your project.
- In a brainstorming tool, choose .
- In the task pane, type an item and press Enter.
- Select one or more items in the list and drag them to a shape on the diagram. You can also drag items from the diagram back to the list.
Tip
To import variables from other tools into the brainstorm list, select Import X Variable or Import Y Variable in the task pane, then, in the Data Selection dialog box, select the variables to import.
Make X and Y variables from shapes
After you drag items from the brainstorm list to shapes on the diagram, you can make X and Y variables from the shapes. When you make a variable from a shape, you can later add it to shape on a process map or to a table in a form for further analysis. In this example, you want to make an X variable from a shape that contains an item that you generated in the brainstorm list.
- In a brainstorming tool, select a shape that contains an item from the brainstorm list, then right-click and select Make X Variable.
- When the Make Variable dialog box appears, select OK. Engage makes a variable from the list item you dragged to the shape.
What's next
Go to Map your process.
