By skyforbes 
Your ideas aren’t bad.
Your process is outdated.
Flip your thinking instead of forcing it.
These 10 ChatGPT prompts show how reverse brainstorming unlocks wild innovation.
Reverse Problem Framing
I want to use reverse brainstorming to uncover causes of [insert problem, e.g., ‘low customer retention’]. Instead of asking how to solve this, let’s start by asking: ‘How could we make this problem even worse?’ Generate at least 10 creative ways to worsen it. Then, for each one, explain the root assumption behind why that would worsen it, and flip that assumption to propose a potential solution. Format the output as three sections: (1) Reverse Ideas, (2) Underlying Assumptions, and (3) Flipped Solutions.
Customer Experience Inversion
Let’s conduct reverse brainstorming for [insert product/service]. Assume our goal is to create the worst possible customer experience. Step 1: List 10 actions or design choices that would guarantee customers hate using it. Step 2: For each, describe the psychological or behavioral trigger that causes dissatisfaction. Step 3: Reverse each insight into a customer-delight principle that could improve the experience. Present the results in a structured table.
Team Performance Breakdown
Act as an organizational psychologist conducting a reverse brainstorming session. The problem: [insert goal, e.g., ‘low team productivity’]. Generate 15 detailed ways a leader could unintentionally make team performance even worse. Then, for each, identify the opposite behavior that would enhance collaboration. Rank the reversed behaviors by expected impact (1–10 scale) and briefly justify each ranking.
Product Innovation Reversal
We’re trying to innovate in [insert industry]. Instead of asking what features users want, let’s reverse it. Step 1: List 10 features, design decisions, or business practices that would make users stop using our product immediately. Step 2: Explain why each failure point happens in real companies. Step 3: Flip each failure into an actionable product innovation idea that prevents that pitfall. Structure your answer as a table with columns: Failure Point | Why It Happens | Reversed Innovation.
Marketing Strategy Inversion
Help me reverse-brainstorm the worst possible marketing campaign for [insert company or goal]. Step 1: List 10 creative but disastrous things a marketing team might do that would destroy reach, reputation, or ROI. Step 2: Explain why each mistake happens in real marketing teams (e.g., cognitive bias, poor incentives, lack of data). Step 3: Convert each into a best-practice insight for a successful campaign. Use bullet points under each step.
Process Optimization Reversal
I want to optimize the workflow for [insert process, e.g., ‘customer onboarding’]. Conduct a reverse brainstorming exercise: First, describe 10 ways to make this workflow painfully slow and inefficient. Then analyze the systemic reason behind each inefficiency (human, technical, or structural). Finally, propose one high-leverage process improvement per inefficiency, prioritizing those that offer the biggest performance gains.
Product Launch Failure Simulation
Simulate a reverse brainstorming workshop focused on why a new product launch might fail. Step 1: List 12 ways to guarantee a launch disaster — strategic, operational, or emotional. Step 2: For each failure mode, analyze what underlying assumption or blind spot leads to it. Step 3: Turn each into a risk-mitigation or pre-mortem checklist item. Format the final section as a launch-readiness checklist titled ‘Preventing the Reverse Scenarios.
Leadership Reversal Framework
Perform reverse brainstorming around leadership failure. The goal: identify the habits and decisions that make leaders lose team trust. Step 1: List 10 behaviors that would destroy trust fastest. Step 2: Identify the psychological or situational driver behind each behavior. Step 3: Reverse-engineer each into a positive leadership behavior, explaining what small daily action could reinforce it. Present in three sections: Fail Behavior → Root Cause → Trust-Building Practice.
Startup Growth Inversion
As a startup strategist, use reverse brainstorming to uncover growth bottlenecks. Assume we want to kill momentum in our startup. Step 1: List 10 things founders could do that would ensure stagnation or failure (fundraising, product, culture, marketing, etc.). Step 2: Explain why each behavior feels rational at the time. Step 3: Convert each into a growth-accelerating behavior, explaining how founders can operationalize it. Output as a table.
Creativity Block Removal
Let’s reverse-engineer creative block. Imagine we wanted to completely destroy creativity in a team of designers. Step 1: List 10 environmental, managerial, or mindset factors that would suffocate creative thinking. Step 2: For each, identify the psychological mechanism (fear, over-control, monotony, etc.) that causes it. Step 3: Reverse those mechanisms into environmental or cultural practices that amplify creativity. Format as a three-column table: Blocker | Mechanism | Creativity Booster.
To get the best outputs, use these prompts on ChatGPT 5 in auto mode.
I hope you’ve found a helpful ChatGPT prompt here.
Have a great day!