Osborn outlined four rules for brainstorming. One, focus on quantity. In other words, generate as many ideas as you can. Two, defer judgment, and separate idea generation from idea evaluation. Three, welcome unusual ideas. And four, combine and improve ideas. He suggested that groups come together real-time, face-to-face (remember he predated the digital, asynchronous communication tools we have today), to generate ideas together, using these four rules.