Off-Topic: Brainstorming

Not totally off-topic, perhaps. We've all sat through brainstorming sessions -- whether on trade promotion or other topics. We've listened to the facilitator (or whatever title is in vogue currently) tell us that "there's no such thing as a bad idea." Which, as this article points out, is patent nonsense: Of course there are bad ideas -- I've certainly had more than my share.

Has anybody ever been part of a brainstorming meeting that actually accomplished anything? I haven't, and it was good to see that others share my skepticism about this particular manifestation of the groupthink culture.

John Clark, a former university dean of engineering, says brainstorming sessions come in handy to distribute blame in the event of failure. But in his experience, most often someone hijacks the topic at hand, tries to prove everyone else wrong, works to impress the superiors who are present, or just plain blathers for his own enjoyment. "I can't remember a single instance where a group produced a really creative idea," he says.

The article comes down hard on teamwork, as well. I have mixed feelings about that -- as far as ideas are concerned, my own experience has been that the best ideas develop through a mix of individual and team inputs. My best ideas have generally been things I come up with on my own, then take to someone else; we hash it out a bit, then usually s/he comes back to me a day or two later and says, "You know, I think it would work better if we ..." Then we might bring in a third opinion, who adds something or points out a flaw, and we go from there.

But as for formal brainstorning -- I've never seen it work.