3-12-3 is a variant of brainstorming that is conducted in a particularly short time. It can be used well as a warm-up before a longer task, or as a stand-alone activity. The method is suitable for generating new ideas as well as for enriching and improving existing ideas.
It was developed by James Macanufo and is used in particular when speed is required.
The numbers 3-12-3 refer to time allowances in minutes for each step (three in total). The method works best with up to ten participants; for larger groups, small subgroups are also possible.