If you’re fortunate, the brainstorming sessions in which you have participate have been facilitated by someone who actually knows how to run one. If not, you’ve endured the misery that besets most contemporary decision-making sessions.
It is not just sloppily run brainstorming that is behind some of corporate America’s worst decisions, research is showing that brainstorming works best for moderately complex issues and poorly for very complex issues. In fact, psychologists have found a greater quantity and better outcomes from the same number of people working on the issue solo.
So, this article in Harvard Business Review suggests you consider the type of problem you face before rolling out the sticky pads and white board.
This post also gives me an excuse to use one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. Speaking a small flower that grows in poor soils he writes, “Only gravel ridges are poor enough to offer pasques full elbow room in the April sun. They endure snows, sleets, and bitter winds for the privilege of blooming alone.”
Bloom on,
Mark
