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Stop Brainstorming

matthewstrom.com

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Re: Stop Brainstorming

#51

Post by borski »

saurik wrote: post #34
codeflo wrote: post #29

I think the article’s missing an important trick: Brainstorming establishes a shared understanding (depending on the group dynamics, you might call it a fiction) that the group , not any individual, came up with the idea. That sense of ownership is psychologically important for aligning the group during the execution phase: People are usually a lot more motivated to implement a plan that they came up with, and if any…

This works on "newbies" until they realize what's going on and then they learn to see through it and begin to resent not only this "trick" but also the people who attempt to use it, which maybe works if you keep churning through people--and this is an industry with enough new blood being injected constantly that maybe that even feels "sustainable"--but I still feel like the people who do it should be judged harshly.

This is a pretty cynical view. It's not actually a bad thing to make folks feel like they have a sense of ownership over an idea; human nature is human nature and motivating people to work hard and feel ownership is its own challenge.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#52

Post by borski »

MauranKilom wrote: post #50

To me, the important parts of (what I would call) brainstorming are "everybody shares the ideas that come to their mind" and "ideas are not evaluated until later". It's happened so many times that some ridiculous-sounding (and outright wrong/unusable idea) has brought us on track to something novel and sound. "Viability" paints you into a tiny corner of the solution space. Removing it from the equation lets you freel…

100%. We've had a few brainstorming sessions, particularly when coming up with new product ideas or features (aside from those customers requested), and while it isn't often that the outlandish idea makes it, sometimes, just sometimes, it does; and sometimes that outlandish idea becomes the most successful part of the company. I've seen it happen at least 3 times. In my opinion, it's one of the few ways to avoid constantly iterating and truly produce something exceptional.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#53

Post by borski »

allenu wrote: post #13
692 wrote: post #5

I'm a divergent thinker and like to bounce ideas off other divergent thinkers, so I can work alone or with others, but/ ideally they need to be creative/ open Once we have a list of ideas, then whittle the list down with the realist and pessimistic people of the group; until there's one obvious way forward or a couple of least worse ideas. Generally most people are better at telling you what you can't do,

I've also found brainstorming isn't great for more "creative" thinkers. In a group setting it's easy to say "no that won't work" or not get buy-in on the spot, so ideas that aren't mainstream get shot down right away. People like me also need time and space to think deeply about certain topics, and a brainstorming session has neither time nor space, so you're immediately limited in the ideas that are presented.

Those people aren't brainstorming; the rules should be that ideas get evaluated later, and that no idea is too outlandish, even if it "won't work". You write every idea down, and cull later, at which point people have had time to think about how something might get done, rather than simply to cancel it off the cuff.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#54

Post by daniel_reetz »

newacct100 wrote: post #47

I worked at IDEO for a few years. None of the brainstorms I've ran, or taken part in, ended with a, "eureka, that's it!" type of moment. And coming up with the 'solution' was never the point. It was about doing something generative, creative, and fun together. It was about engaging folks and collaborating in a different way than they might be used to. I'd also start by offering a few very poorly drawn, completely non…

I was a Disney Imagineer (they have their own braingstorming concept, which has psychological safety built in). This person's article is indeed missing the point, or at least arguing with a straw man.

I would encourage folks to check out the Walt Disney method. It's not hard to get right, and (in my experience) it works well.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#55

Post by jrumbut »

borski wrote: post #51
saurik wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This works on "newbies" until they realize what's going on and then they learn to see through it and begin to resent not only this "trick" but also the people who attempt to use it, which maybe works if you keep churning through people--and this is an industry with enough new blood being injected constantly that maybe that even feels "sustainable"--but I still feel like the people who do it should be judged harshly.

This is a pretty cynical view. It's not actually a bad thing to make folks feel like they have a sense of ownership over an idea; human nature is human nature and motivating people to work hard and feel ownership is its own challenge.

I agree with you. There are enough people in the world who play games to make others suffer that I'm not going to spend much energy resenting people who play games to make others feel good.

I do think the author's final point about psychological safety is a good one.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#56

Post by sova »

Osborn's words from his own book where the term was first used:

  Every day, everywhere in a democracy, juries are proving that a dozen minds can jointly judge and judge well. But that’s judicial thinking; how about creative thinking? Can a squad produce ideas? The answer is yes. Properly organized and run, a group can be a gold-mine of ideas. It was in 1939 when I first organized such group-thinking in our company. The early participants dubbed our efforts “Brainstorm Sessions”; and quite aptly so because, in this case, “brainstorm” means using the brain to storm a creative problem—and do so in commando fashion, with each stormer attacking the same objective.
So the good news is you can still brainstorm as Osborn himself intended. I suppose this once again goes to show that reading the manual is a good idea! I had no idea there was a manual for this stuff.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#58

Post by brongondwana »

libertine wrote: post #37
underwater wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people do this very badly. They craft a brainstorming session designed to arrive at their pre-selected destination. They either design the process to steer the conversation, or shut down tangents as they go. This always feels manipulative and scummy.

But that's not brainstorming, that's something else.

Laundering a pre-arranged plan, aka "brainwashing"

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#59

Post by errcorrectcode »

Group brainstorming is useful for creating a domain set of ideas to test and kill, especially if a simple-ish or vague problem needs to be solved immediately when optimal soon isn't required. Multiple people together can sometimes create better ideas through on-the-fly refinement. But, people who are less assertive aren't able to make their voices heard or convince others about alternative ideas.

Independent contributors have the potential of submitting better ideas privately utilizing individual creativities not biased or pressured by group dynamics.

Re: Stop Brainstorming

#60

Post by maerF0x0 »

> It’s hard to deny the appeal of brainstorming. To be given a judgment-free space to express yourself? What a dream! And especially appealing, imagine, to the ad men of the 1940s.

This, interestingly, aligns with some advice we received as a young couple. it was advised to periodically ask the other about their ideas and dreams without either 1) telling them it wont work or 2) asking how they'll make it work. Just to explore how the other things, feels, and dreams about the future. An example would be like "I really would love to sail a boat with my children one day, i think it would be so cool to teach them skills on the ocean and show them the world. Plus theres no internet there so we can all focus on eachother, I'd love that." --> Even if the dream is impossible look what they said, they want to deeply invest and connect with you and children, they value seeing the world, and the find beauty in it, etc.

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