Stop the brainstorming

Business buzz words seem to change with the wind.  "Thinking outside the box" and "blue sky thinking" are no longer way to solve problems.

The December 2007 Harvard Business Review article, "How Brainstorming Can Frustrate Creativity,"  explains why brainstorming sessions, where anything goes, may not be the best way to solve problems.  Kevin Coyne, Patricia Gorman and Renee Dye believe that very few people are good at coming up with new ideas without guidance and parameters.

In free-for-all brainstorming sessions, the pushy, vocal people tend to dominate the discussion. The people with the loudest and most persistent voices usually win.

The article suggests a better way to engage people in creative problem solving is to try and approach the situation from an unconventional direction, while still having some parameters around the discussion.  For example, pose the question as "if we need to cut costs by 50%, which customers could make do with less?" rather than, "how can we cut costs?"

Smaller groups of no more than 4 people are best for creative thinking.  There is a better chance that all participants will be heard.

Nancy Loderick