Unless you are some kind of idea-concocting prodigy, the ideation phase is something that many of us struggle with. To foster an environment more conducive for coming up with new ideas, many companies arrange group brainstorming sessions – hoping that one person’s ideas will trigger others to create a self-powering engine of creativity. However, this is often not the case.
Have you ever been in a session where a handful of people dominate the conversation and everyone else is either too intimidated or disinterested to speak up? How about the moments when people are hopelessly fixated on a counterproductive point? Brainstorming alone is hard enough, but when even group sessions are unproductive, it’s time for change! Join Wordsmith as we explore ways to beef up your brainstorming!
Caught on cognitive biases
Tick, Tick… Boom! is an award-winning biographical movie/musical starring Andrew Garfield as aspiring composer Jonathan Larson. As Larson struggles to make ends meet, he has to juggle relationships while also writing his musical which he hopes will make it onto Broadway or Off-Broadway.
In one scene, Larson is strapped for cash and decides to join a marketing focus group. The moderator enters and asks the participants to say whatever comes to mind after hearing trigger words, like “morning”. The other participants respond with uninspiring answers like breakfast and sunrise, whereas Larson counters with “the dawn of a new day”. The others applaud him and believe his creativity stems from his job as a composer – resulting in them egging him on for more ideas while consequently providing less input themselves.
This begs the question... are people who work in creative industries simply better at ideation and creativity than those who don’t?
Cognitive biases are unconscious errors designed by our brain to simplify the complex world around us – resulting in “direct implications on our safety, our interactions with others, and the way we make judgments and decisions in our daily lives,” explains Charlotte Ruhl of Simply Psychology. The focus group assuming that Larson was more creative because of his profession is an example of the cognitive bias known as stereotyping – an instance where people expect you to have certain qualities without knowing much about you. It also shows an example of the halo effect, where a good first impression colours people’s perspective and makes them assume other positive traits (like designating him the de facto leader of the focus group).
While on the subject of cognitive bias, let’s identify other common biases that groups may tend to develop (consulting this infographic by Business Insider):
· Bandwagon effect
When multiple people believe something, others will also pick up on that belief – possibly due to avoiding being left out and ostracised or because the idea was assimilated via proximity. “This is a powerful form of groupthink and is reason why meetings are often unproductive,” explains Business Insider.
· Anchoring and recency bias
People tend to hold onto the first piece of information they receive – this creates an “anchor” that causes participants to forcibly work around this information. Similarly, recency is the tendency to overweigh the most recent information received contrary to existing information.
Both can impair judgement and will skew objectivity when making decisions.
· Survivorship bias
There’s a saying that “history is written by the victors”. In the case of biases, we tend to emphasise our focus on cases that succeed. For example, seeing someone win the lottery can inspire others to buy tickets, but there’s often no consideration for the thousands of people who have won nothing.
· Confirmation and choice supportive bias
Since people are unconsciously anchored to their preconceptions, they also have the tendency to listen to information that confirms or supports their beliefs. As a result, they’ll often put up a fight even when presented with legitimate counter-points or facts (e.g. Trump supporters arguing that the election was rigged).
Choice-supportive bias occurs when we find positivity in something that we like despite its obvious flaws – “like how you think your dog is awesome… even if it bites people every once in a while,” describes Business Insider.
· Overconfidence
Ever had someone brag about their experience and insist that they know what they are talking about? This is possibly a case of overconfidence and it is a bias most prevalent in experts (applicable to both legitimate industry experts and self-proclaimed “experts” with 10 minutes of Googling). This can be a dangerous bias when the experts accidentally provide false information to other participants, or if they believe that their experience alone automatically entitles them to a leadership role.
Breaking deadlocks
With the amount of potential biases around, it’s no surprise that brainstorming sessions are so often crippled by irrational thinking. Jillian Richardson of Convene, a firm specialising in meeting and event spaces, identifies several handy tricks that can simplify and unclog brainstorms:
· Doing the background work
Group brainstorming sessions work best when everyone has a few initial ideas prior to the session. Doing so limits time spent on getting participants up to speed and provides points of discussion that can be worked on immediately.
Warm-up exercises may also be a good idea. “Chauncey Wilson, an instructor in the Human Factors and Information Design program at Bentley College, recommends exposing teammates to a stimulus that relates to your brainstorming topic,” writes Richardson. “Having an actual object to look at can produce ideas that otherwise might not surface” – like how examining a competitor’s product could provide inspiration on how to improve your company’s product.
· Establish clear roles
Giving everyone a predetermined role is the best strategy for countering groupthink, Richardson explains. For example, having a supervisor or facilitator (especially a trained third-party facilitator) managing time and ensuring conversations stay on track.
Furthermore, she points to a suggestion from Vijay Govindarajan and Jay Terwilliger of Harvard Business Review to “empower passionate champions” within a group and advocating for their ideas. The rationale behind this being that the people who are most invested into an idea would be willing to put in the best quality work.
If someone delivers a good idea, give them space to play around with the idea and encourage the team to build upon it. To prevent the “champion” from becoming drunk with power, have their ideas undergo both internal and external critiquing – it’ll help to keep the idea grounded as well!
· The importance of opening up
Not everyone is comfortable with sharing their ideas and having them judged, which is why Richardson suggests beginning each session with a “bad idea” exercise. Participants are to propose the wildest and craziest ideas that definitely will not work, but because everyone is spouting insanity and being laughed at, it promotes creative thinking and helps the introverted to open up. This exercise is even more practical when there is a boss or executive present at the meeting, as Richardson states that it puts the boss and the other participants on a level playing field.
Alternatively, try the “word storm” exercise as described earlier in the Tick, Tick… Boom! example. Simply have participants say or write down the first word that comes to mind after hearing a certain keyword. “Encourage everyone to think about the word’s function, how it’s used, and metaphors that can be associated with it,” explains Richardson. “Let the ideas flow naturally and try not to overthink it.”
· The improv hack
If some participants are having trouble coming up with unique ideas or are being too negative towards everything, try using the “Yes, and…” technique popularised in improv acting. After someone gives an idea, the next person has to say “Yes, and” followed by something that can be added on to the idea. Anything that compliments, enhances or improves the idea more content for others to work with.
· Brain dumping
Throughout our schooling and careers, we’ve learnt that quality is always better than quantity… but in the case of brainstorming, having an abundance of cheap ideas isn’t always a bad thing! “The more ideas you generate, the more likely you stumble upon a ‘golden nugget’ of an idea,” expresses Richardson.
This is akin to the bad idea exercise described earlier – after participants are comfortable with sharing their thoughts, transition from bad ideas to workable ideas to keep up the momentum. Alternatively, Richardson suggests setting a timer for 5- to 10-minute intervals and encouraging participants to come up with the most ideas. In addition to making the session more interesting, people with a higher competitive spirit will be more motivated to participate.
In the event that some participants still don’t feel comfortable with sharing, there’s the “brainswarming” technique – where the session becomes non-verbal and everyone writes their responses on sticky notes. Following the concept of “Yes, and”, participants then build off of each other’s ideas once a key idea is established. “The advantage to this approach is that all of these ideas are documented and there’s no verbal critiquing of ideas, which may have originally stifled the shy ones from performing at their best initially.”
Experiencing biased thinking and unproductivity are as inevitable as death and taxes, but their existence doesn’t always mean a doomed brainstorming session. With enough prep work, established roles and the various exercises and brainstorming methods, you can ensure that everyone contributes some of their own ideas… even if they aren’t creatives by trade!