Storm Warnings
Whenever people engage in creative problem-solving, someone is bound to bring up the word “brainstorming.” Unfortunately, true brainstorming is much rarer than that would imply. Much of what we refer to as brainstorming lacks some of the crucial features that make it a powerful technique.
For me, brainstorming is a specific technique in which all participants are invited to air any and all ideas, for the expressed purpose of opening our minds and widening the scope of possibility. Here are a few indications that what we’re calling brainstorming may not really fit that definition.
We aren’t generating enough bad ideas. They say that if everytime you suspect appendicitis it’s confirmed to be appendicitis, you aren’t suspecting it enough. That same principle applies to generating ideas. The goal of brainstorming is to create volume. If we’re censoring things before you put them on the table, we’re missing some diamonds in the rough that could be developed and explored.
We’re identifying good ideas. If ideas are brand new, you don’t know if they’re any good or not. Those diamonds in the rough don’t look so beautiful right away. If you’re picking winners and losers right away, there’s a good chance that the winners are the safe ideas you had in mind before you even started.
We’re developing good ideas. Developing ideas takes time and input and thoughtful debate. That isn’t what brainstorming is for. The goal is rapid generation of ideas. You can explore and expand on them later. For now, just generate and capture.
Someone’s knocking it out of the park. If you have a group of people brainstorming, and one person is coming up with most of the ideas, you have to wonder if someone else has ideas that they aren’t sharing. If that’s the case, you’re missing out. And if it’s not the case, did you really need this group session to begin with?
Notice that all of these things seem like positives. That’s why we let them happen. But if we’re serious about expanding our options and opening our minds, we have to resist the temptation to do what we always do and dress it up as brainstorming.
A storm is an unruly, unpredictable, uncomfortable thing. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.
