What technique is used to generate ideas rapidly, regardless of their practicality?

The technique used to generate ideas rapidly, regardless of their practicality, is brainstorming. This method encourages participants to contribute any and all ideas that come to mind in a free-flowing manner, without immediately assessing their feasibility or quality. The primary goal of brainstorming is to foster creativity and generate a wide array of ideas that may later be refined or evaluated for practicality.

During brainstorming sessions, the emphasis is placed on quantity, which can lead to innovative solutions or insights that might not emerge through more structured or critical approaches. By allowing individuals to think freely and build on each other's contributions, brainstorming can often lead to unexpected and valuable ideas that can be further developed in subsequent stages of planning or decision-making.

In contrast, other options like strategic planning and critical thinking involve a more analytical or structured approach where practicality and feasibility are crucial considerations. This focus on evaluation can inhibit the creative flow that brainstorming seeks to unleash. Step-by-step analysis is similarly systematic and would not support the open-ended idea generation that characterizes brainstorming.