🧠 Does brainstorming work?
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Enjoy the 104th Podup, with special thanks to Castmagic.
Today, we’ll dive into the best insights and ideas from Nudge Podcast.
Brainstorming sessions are a staple of business. They're the go-to strategy for generating new ideas and solving complex problems. However, Professor Sheena Iyengar argues we need to revamp the brainstorming process to foster diversity of thought and yield better results.
We're too solutions focused
What are the main rules of brainstorming? Defer judgment. Go for wild ideas. Build on the ideas of others. But, most of the time when you do a brainstorm, people jump into solutions. They don't actually talk through what exactly the problem is and all the ways to think about it.
Professor Sheena Iyengar
We forget cognitive biases
Another thing that goes wrong is all the cognitive biases. Anchoring, overconfidence, only considering bits of information, a biased set of information, groupthink. You essentially create a bias making machine in group brainstorming discussions.
Professor Sheena Iyengar
How to do brainstorming right
The quality of information goes up threefold if people think about the problem in advance. Once you've defined the problem, I would create a group with different knowledge bases, aka people with different access to information, skills, and networks.
Get each of them to spend time beforehand exploring 'How has this problem been solved before? How has this problem been solved in other worlds and industries?' By having that diversity of knowledge, you're now soliciting totally different strategies. And that's what you want.
Professor Sheena Iyengar
Why it matters
For what it’s worth, I do think brainstorms have a place. But, they should be done sparingly, only tackle the hardest problems, and always be done with a team built on trust and transparency.
Being aware of the pitfalls of brainstorming is the first step in enhancing the quality of your group discussions. By focusing on the right problem and avoiding cognitive biases, you can unlock a treasure trove of ideas.
Next steps
Define the problem clearly. Before diving into solutions, spend ample time understanding the problem.
Leverage ChatGPT first. Before you engage others, have your own ideation session with ChatGPT. You'll often find the output to be so helpful that a wider session is not required.
Create a diverse group. If ChatGPT doesn’t do the trick, form a group of individuals with varied knowledge bases, skills, and networks.
Research-based approach. Encourage team members to research how similar problems have been addressed in different industries.
Set time for reflection. Before the group discussion, give individuals time to ponder the problem independently. This can enhance the quality of contributions during the session.
Your thoughts?
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