It’s trendy these days to denigrate group brainstorming. I’ve recently read two articles on this theme in major publications that I highly respect. Neither of these articles convinced me to give up on the creative process that we’ve spent many years using successfully with our clients. This article in this week’s The New Yorker magazine seemed to call out for a response from ThinkShop. Here it is.
I’m one of those business consultants using the creative process that Jonah Lehrer criticizes in his article “GroupThink.” I’ve worked with teams and individuals in brainstorming groups for twenty years. Brainstorming sessions take place every hour of every day in every industry across the globe, and I’m the first to admit that they are not all productive. Unfortunately, many brainstorming sessions are led by untrained facilitators or no facilitators at all, without a process, with a homogenous group of people in an environment that’s not conducive to creative collaboration. A highly skilled facilitator, working in the right environment, with an eclectic group, can lead an effective brainstorming session that produces creative and actionable results.
A central criticism of brainstorming, according to Mr. Lehrer, is that participants are encouraged not to criticize ideas. While this is true during part of a brainstorming session where every possible opportunity and idea is explored (and yes, free association is encouraged!), a well-run brainstorming session includes a great degree of constructive criticism. For every hour that a brainstorming team spends generating ideas without criticism, another hour should be spent constructively evaluating ideas, looking at key concerns and coming up with ways to make the ideas stronger. I’ve never led a session where “the most important thing to do when working together is to stay positive and get along, to not hurt anyone’s feelings.” Respectful and fiery debate is essential and encouraged!
In an ideal world, we’d all have access to Building 20, the flexible workspace where people of different disciplines co-mingled, bounced ideas off each other and ended up creating some pretty amazing innovations like Bose speakers and many others. Lehrer’s point that the right environment and mix of people is critical to successful innovation is right on the mark. His arguments against brainstorming, though, are not supported. A professionally run brainstorming session can be a virtual Building 20, an inspiring place where people of diverse backgrounds gather to free associate, constructively criticize and produce the next big thing.
Author: Michelle Conrad
Go get ‘em, Michelle! Of course it’s not hard to see all the ways one might harsh on the practice of group brainstorming. But then, as with everything, there are good ways to do it and bad ways to do it, and, after all these years of collaboration, I’ve yet to see a ThinkShop facilitated group brainstorm session that didn’t knock the brainstorm ball out of the park.
Thanks, Shane! And you were there at the beginning!
Agreed! I’ve been privileged to participate in some amazing sessions over the years which yielded tremendous innovation and growth, namely at Williams-Sonoma in the 80s and 90s and Cost Plus World Market in the aughts. When done right, brainstorming teams can be greater than the sum of the individual participants.
Liz, thanks for sharing your positive experiences with group brainstorming!