Following is a curated list of resources that reflect current thinking on a topic of interest to IT leaders. You can assist this effort by contributing insight from your own real-world experiences, and are invited to suggest changes or additions here.
Current Thinking Includes:
Current views include the need to set ground rules and have a formal approach to Brainstorming activities, limiting initial manager/leader input so as not to skew the output of the process before it begins, and a discussion regarding the merits of an individual, group, or combination individual/group (“hybrid”) approach to brainstorming sessions.
Wharton School: Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea
We find evidence that the best idea generated by a hybrid process is better than the best idea generated by a group process. This result is driven by the fact that the hybrid process generates about three times as many ideas per unit of time and that these ideas have significantly higher average quality.
Bloomberg Businessweek: Eight Rules To Brilliant Brainstorming
The power of group brainstorming comes from creating a safe place where people with different ideas can share, blend, and expand their diverse knowledge. If your goal is just to collect the creative ideas that are out there, group brainstorms are a waste of time.
Bloomberg Businessweek: Eight Rules To Brilliant Brainstorming
Creativity comes from a blend of individual and collective “ideation.” This means building in time for people to think and learn about the topic before the group brainstorm, as well as time to reflect about what happened after the meetings.
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Alternative Views Include:
In addition to the lack of formal process or ground rules cited for Brainstorming failure, the most discussed alternative views focus on the benefit/drawback of group involvement, and the question of whether the dangers of group think, potential laziness of participants or undesired conformity outweigh the benefits of Brainstorming in group environment.