We need more ideas and we know that having more people is helpful.
So, how do we get great ideas in a group?
How do we collate and collect these ideas, then sort through them based on their merit rather than who came up with them?
There’s are two inherent problems with brainstorming
1) Domination – very quickly, one or two people tend to take a lead and others site back. This is not a conscious decision, but is a result of everything from inner narratives to tone of voice, to familiarity with the practice, group or space
2) The group becomes anchored – we pivot around the ideas that come up early in the session (often subconsciously)
There seem to be two ways forward – either we “train” to really get good at brainstorming – rapid, unrelated ideas without fear of failure, or, we can try Brainwriting.
In Brainstorming, a couple of people do most of the work.
In Brainwriting, we all do the work then we come together and join forces.
The basic premise is each individual creates their own “list,” then we can (anonymously if we choose) organise them as a group and sift through them, allowing us to see each idea independently, rather than bunches of ideas being linked to particular individuals.
