Brainstorming is not as effective as it seems
I read what they write in Habré about brainstorming and found that they haven’t written this yet. The last article on brainstorming is called The Myth of the Effectiveness of Brainstorming, but on the contrary presents brainstorming as one of the most effective research tools. The main idea of that article is to allow criticism during discussions, then everything will be fine. In fact, not everything is so simple and there is another problem of brainstorming.
Whoever doesn’t want to read many letters, I’ll immediately say that the main idea of the article is that brainstorming is not a mechanism for obtaining a final decision, but just a tool to outline possible solutions.
How does a brainstorm usually occur? First, a certain problem is expressed and almost immediately some kind of idea is proposed to solve the problem. Then several people discuss this idea, suggesting corrections to the idea. Let's try to depict it with a chart.
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The whole diagram shows the solution space. Red dots indicate local maximum points of solution efficiency. The green dot is the initial idea. Let me explain, just in case, what a local maximum is. These are such points, being near which it is clear that they represent a better solution than nearby points. At the same time, a red dot is an absolute maximum. Most likely, the red dot, which came as a result of brainstorming, is not an absolute maximum. For very meticulous ones, I can immediately say that this model is very approximate and is used to demonstrate the idea contained in this article. During the discussion points may appear throughout the solution space, but, as a rule, only one idea will be worked out.
Why it happens? The main reason is that brainstorming does not involve a long reflection on the problem. Let's draw an analogy with chess. There are blitz tournaments, where every player is given five minutes to think about and there are regular tournaments where much more time can be given to thinking. Blitz tournaments do not shine deep in thought and even experienced players make stupid mistakes in blitz tournaments. Brainstorming reminiscent of just blitz tournaments, where the depth of the decision there.
Another reason why decisions are made quickly is a rule about quick decisions common in management theory. Want to be an effective manager - learn to make quick decisions. Maybe this is good for simple problems, but the more complex the problem, the more you have to think about it. In this case, managers are usually extroverts who are not inclined to go into long thoughts.
The most interesting thing is that at the end of the article “The Myth of the Effectiveness of Brainstorming” there is indirect confirmation of such conclusions: the most important ideas in the history of mankind were formulated by singles and, as a rule, by introverts.
What are some of the conclusions?
Finally, I must note that not everything is perfect in our life. And even long-term reflections do not always give the desired result, sometimes even the result may not be. But there is no other way to solve difficult problems.
PS Lord, who puts the minuses, you at least explain why.
Whoever doesn’t want to read many letters, I’ll immediately say that the main idea of the article is that brainstorming is not a mechanism for obtaining a final decision, but just a tool to outline possible solutions.
How does a brainstorm usually occur? First, a certain problem is expressed and almost immediately some kind of idea is proposed to solve the problem. Then several people discuss this idea, suggesting corrections to the idea. Let's try to depict it with a chart.
')
The whole diagram shows the solution space. Red dots indicate local maximum points of solution efficiency. The green dot is the initial idea. Let me explain, just in case, what a local maximum is. These are such points, being near which it is clear that they represent a better solution than nearby points. At the same time, a red dot is an absolute maximum. Most likely, the red dot, which came as a result of brainstorming, is not an absolute maximum. For very meticulous ones, I can immediately say that this model is very approximate and is used to demonstrate the idea contained in this article. During the discussion points may appear throughout the solution space, but, as a rule, only one idea will be worked out.
Why it happens? The main reason is that brainstorming does not involve a long reflection on the problem. Let's draw an analogy with chess. There are blitz tournaments, where every player is given five minutes to think about and there are regular tournaments where much more time can be given to thinking. Blitz tournaments do not shine deep in thought and even experienced players make stupid mistakes in blitz tournaments. Brainstorming reminiscent of just blitz tournaments, where the depth of the decision there.
Another reason why decisions are made quickly is a rule about quick decisions common in management theory. Want to be an effective manager - learn to make quick decisions. Maybe this is good for simple problems, but the more complex the problem, the more you have to think about it. In this case, managers are usually extroverts who are not inclined to go into long thoughts.
The most interesting thing is that at the end of the article “The Myth of the Effectiveness of Brainstorming” there is indirect confirmation of such conclusions: the most important ideas in the history of mankind were formulated by singles and, as a rule, by introverts.
What are some of the conclusions?
- Brainstorming gives a solution that is not absolute truth and may be subject to further revision. Some people think that brainstorming is a collegial decision and everyone agrees with it. It seems that the optimal solution has been found. In fact, this is far from the case.
- With a difficult decision to sleep, a difficult decision to suffer. To truly evaluate the correctness of the solution, a deep immersion into the problem is required.
- The manager must either have analysts who take a slow but more effective solution, or take a deliberately ineffective solution on their own, or have to analyze the problem on their own.
- To solve complex problems it is impossible to base all analytical work on brainstorming; it is necessary to allocate time for reflection on individual team members.
- Sometimes it makes sense to conduct research in several directions. In my practice it happened that I considered several options at once. For each option came ideas that improved one or another option. During the study, one option overtook everyone, then another. The result was a solution that was some compromise, but was the best of all the options considered.
Finally, I must note that not everything is perfect in our life. And even long-term reflections do not always give the desired result, sometimes even the result may not be. But there is no other way to solve difficult problems.
PS Lord, who puts the minuses, you at least explain why.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/222955/
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