A critique of brainstorming

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ham-coach
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A critique of brainstorming

Post by ham-coach »

Brainstorming should be based entirely on the nature of the creative process. Usually, it is not. The usual attitude is, "Nun, mach' mal".

It follows quite clearly from all of the above. Simply compare what happens during common brainstorming with deep introspection and the mental habits of creative geniuses. Brainstorming attempts to achieve quality via quantity. Throw enough mud on the wall; eventually, some of it has got to stick.
My description of the mental habits should show clearly that tracking them is the way to high quality results. Achieve quality via quality, not via quantity.


Proposals for improving brainstorming
Brainstorming should be based entirely on the nature of the creative process. The following is a list of some characteristics of the creative process. I will then propose changes to brainstorming which take acount of these characteristics.

Creativity is a slow, messy, chaotic, reiterative process. Or rather, a chain of processes.
Creativity is not something which can be turned on and off like a light bulb.
Creativity can be enhanced. There are powerful techniques and exercises for this. And it is always possible to develop additional techniques
Creativity can be enhanced in special ways, utilizing the power of the hot buttons of creativity. Thus, it can be improved by even more than by techniques and exercises.
Creativity has a great deal to do with permission. Giving oneself permission to be creative. Allowing this chaotic, unpredictable process to flow.
A powerful technique is to celebrate each and every new idea (creative solution or result). This is the ultimate form of giving onself permission to be creative.
Creativity profits greatly from devising new ideas in a group, in various and changing small groups, and as a solitary exercise. It gains most when people move flexibly and easily between all of these settings.
When a person feels pressure to perform (and to do so instantly), his creativity dies. Creativity flows when a person lets go, puts his creative thinking on autopilot and allows his unconscious mind to suggest creative solutions.
When a person is told to provide new ideas instantly, his linear thinking takes over (because this is our primary mode for solving problems). Creativity is enhanced by combining linear and nonlinear thinking.
A person working in a group will often feel pressure to perform as well as the others, to demonstrate how smart or brilliant he is. This pressure kills creativity.
Creativity is enhanced significantly by a change in situation, circumstance.
Over time, creative people should define specific sets of outward circumstances and activities which facilitate their creativity. (Everyone must do this for himself, because these things are very individual.) They should then systematically engage in these activities, in order to enhance their creativity.


Problems of usual brainstorming, which come to light due to the above characteristics
Creativity is a slow, chaotic, process.
Brainstorming, on the other hand, is often a rushed process (because the company is paying a lot of money for people to sit around crewing the fat).
Creativity is often a reiterative process. With brainstorming, often a single session is considered to be sufficient.
Creativity is not something which can be turned on and off like a light bulb.
A brainstorming session, on the other hand, starts at a specific time and ends on time. It takes not take the actual creativity habits of people into account. People get good ideas at odd times, not because someone starts a meeting. And they often get additional good ideas after meetings.
Creativity can be enhanced. There are powerful techniques and exercises for this. Brainstorming, however, ignores this. A lot of valuable potential is lost this way!
Brainstorming ignores the tremendous potential available by pressing the hot buttons of creativity.
Creativity has a great deal to do with permission.
Brainstorming ignores the participants' attitudes about their own creativity. And it does not attempt to change those attitudes.
A powerful technique is to celebrate each and every new idea.
During brainstorming, however, good ideas are not celebrated.
Creativity profits greatly from devising new ideas in a group, in various and changing small groups, and as a solitary exercise. It gains most when people move flexibly and easily between all of these settings.
Brainstorming, on the other hand, usually takes place only in a group of fixed size. That's all.
When a person feels pressure to perform (and to do so instantly), his creativity dies. Creativity flows when a person lets go.
Brainstorming is more like a command performance.
When a person is told to provide new ideas instantly, his linear thinking takes over. Creativity is enhanced by combining linear and nonlinear thinking.
Same problem: Brainstorming is more like a command performance.
A person working in a group will often feel pressure to perform as well as the others, to demonstrate how smart he is. This pressure kills creativity.
Brainstorming ignores this.
Creativity is enhanced significantly by a change in situation, circumstance.
Brainstorming typically takes place in one room, which no change in the situation.
People can facilitate their creativity by systematically engaging in specific activities. These activities vary from individual to individual.
Brainstorming, however, has everyone do the same thing.
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AgentSmith
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Re: A critique of brainstorming

Post by AgentSmith »

You've touched upon only one aspect of brainstorming (sessions) viz. creativity. Indeed a creative person is now a must on any team whatsoever.

However, in my humble opinion, there's also other qualities equally important. What am I referring to? Rationality, the ability to reason well - a skill that I'm told many of us are lacking in.

This, to a degree, completes the picture for me: Creativity + Rational, characters that define a genius.
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LuckyR
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Re: A critique of brainstorming

Post by LuckyR »

What makes the session productive isn't the session itself, it is the exposure to individuals with parallel, but different areas of expertise to your own. That is, person A needs a solution in field 1, person B is an expert in field 2 and mentions something that works in field 2, but A says it won't work in field 1 because of problem X. Person C has solved problem X in his field 3, with solution Y. Person D has also used solution Y in his field 4, which is similar to 1. The group suspects C's solution Y could get person B's fix to work on A's original problem in field 1.
"As usual... it depends."
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AgentSmith
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Joined: January 29th, 2022, 1:55 am

Re: A critique of brainstorming

Post by AgentSmith »

Yep, brainstorming, just a fancy way of saying meeting, is actually just a gathering of so-called experts. Each brings to the table field-respective knowledge & experience + other abilities (e.g. creativity, re OP) and while any one of them would fail, togther they can/do succeed in solving problems.
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