| I'm seeing weirdly negative comments about brainstorming along the lines of 'let people go off and solve the problems'. I don't think brainstorming is about solving specific, well-defined problems. It's about getting a diversity of view and experience to approach something. If you're not listening to a more diverse set of voices, you may be trying to solve the wrong problem from the start, and the value is along the lines of "you may have overlooked this angle/consideration/issue". Sure, if you're at the world's greatest company, no problem comes without a very clear set of requirements and specifications that have been real-world market tested. I don't think that's a normal reality so a discussion of ways to address things is great. Personally, my least fav is being invited to a brainstorm where blue sky is off the table and everyone is trying to say why things won't work or that they've been tried. The thing is I've been in a lot of situations where the problem was previously determined unsolvable, but where someone with different experience tried something that worked easily. That said, I've been in brainstorming sessions that were claimed to be "blue sky" but a large subset of entrenched micro-serfs would claim everything was impossible and already attempted on their team. Brainstorming, like improv (which I'm thinking about from another comment from techdragon), relies on not being shut down. A fluid (supportive), "go on" mentality is necessary. |