BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is a creativity
technique by which people try to find solutions for specific problems by
gathering ideas, proposed by different members of a team or a single
individual, and exploring them.
In other words, brainstorming is a situation where a group of
people meet to generate new ideas and solutions around a specific domain of
interest by removing inhibitions. People are able to think more freely and they
suggest many spontaneous new ideas as possible. All the ideas are noted down
and those ideas are not criticized and after brainstorming session the ideas
are evaluated. The term was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in the 1953.
Four rules of
brainstorming:
1. Go for quantity:
This rule is a means
of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem solving through
the maxim quantity breeds quality. The assumption is that the
greater the number of ideas generated the bigger the chance of producing a
radical and effective solution.
2.
Withhold
criticism:
In
brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put 'on hold'. Instead,
participants should focus on extending or adding to ideas, reserving criticism
for a later 'critical stage' of the process. By suspending judgment,
participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas.
3.
Welcome
wild ideas:
To get a good long
list of suggestions, wild ideas are encouraged. They can be generated by
looking from new perspectives and suspending assumptions. These new ways of
thinking might give you better solutions.
4.
Combine
and improve ideas:
As suggested by the
slogan "1+1=3". It is believed to stimulate the building of ideas by
a process of association.
Several factors can contribute to a loss of effectiveness in
group brainstorming:
·
Blocking:
Because only one
participant may give an idea at any one-time, other participants might forget
the idea they were going to contribute or not share it because they see it as
no longer important or relevant. Further, if we view brainstorming as a
cognitive process in which "a participant generates ideas (generation
process) and stores them in short-term memory (memorization process) and then
eventually extracts some of them from its short-term memory to express them
(output process)", then blocking is an even more critical challenge
because it may also inhibit a person's train of thought in generating their own
ideas and remembering them.
·
Collaborative
fixation:
Exchanging ideas in a
group may reduce the number of domains that a group explores for additional
ideas. Members may also conform their ideas to those of other members,
decreasing the novelty or variety of ideas, even though the overall number of
ideas might not decrease.
·
Evaluation
apprehension:
Evaluation
apprehension was determined to occur only in instances of personal evaluation.
If the assumption of collective assessment were in place, real-time judgment of
ideas, ostensibly an induction of evaluation apprehension, failed to induce
significant variance.
·
Free-writing:
Individuals may feel
that their ideas are less valuable when combined with the ideas of the group at
large. Indeed, Diehl and Stroebe demonstrated that even when individuals worked
alone, they produced fewer ideas if told that their output would be judged in a
group with others than if told that their output would be judged individually.
However, experimentation revealed free-writing as only a marginal contributor
to productivity loss, and type of session (i.e., real vs. nominal group)
contributed much more.
·
Personality
characteristics:
Extroverts have been
shown to outperform introverts in computer mediated groups. Extroverts also
generated more unique and diverse ideas than introverts when additional methods
were used to stimulate idea generation, such as completing a small related task
before brainstorming, or being given a list of the classic rules of
brainstorming.
Methods of improving
brainstorming sessions:
There a number of ways that groups can improve the effectiveness
and quality of their brainstorming sessions.
ü Avoiding face-to-face groups:
Using face-to-face groups can increase production blocking,
evaluation apprehension, social matching and social loafing.
ü Stick to the rules:
Brainstorming rules should be followed, and feedback should be
given to members that violate these rules. Violations of brainstorming rules
tend to lead to mediocre ideas.
ü Pay attention to everyone’s ideas:
People tend to pay more attention to their own ideas, however
brainstorming requires exposure to the ideas of others. A method to encourage
members to pay attention to others’ ideas is to make them list the ideas out or
ask them to repeat others’ ideas.
ü Include both individual and group approaches:
One method that helps members integrate their ideas into the
group is brain writing. This is where members write their ideas on a piece of
paper and then pass it along to others who add their own ideas.
ü Take breaks:
Allow silence during group discussions so that members have time
to think things through.
ü Do not rush:
Allow lots of time for members to complete the task. Although
working under pressure tends to lead to more solutions initially, the quality
is usually lower than if more time is spent on the task.
ü Stay persistent:
Members should stay focused and persist at the task even when
productivity is low.
ü Facilitate the session:
A skilled discussion leader should lead and coordinate the
brainstorming sessions. This leader can motivate members, correct mistakes, and
provide a clear standard of work. They can also be used to keep track of all
the ideas and make sure that these ideas are available to everyone.
I conclude saying that, it's important to allow individuals time for independent
creative thinking. If you give everyone the individual time to think, you’ll
likely increase the amount of creativity among your team. The quality and
quantity of ideas will be increased.
