How do you brainstorm?
Think of a storm of ideas going through your head. Now, dodge all of it down, no matter how bad the idea sounds to you. Basically, that is the way I define brainstorming.
The traditional meaning of brainstorming is that it's done in teams either individually or collectively. When done individually, then the term is "Virtual Brainstorming". This has been the terminology for many years until the introduction of the internet.
Now, virtual teams can be referred to: virtual characters of people who work in a team as pointed out by my classmate Na Rae in her post Communication matters of virtual team- working.
Originally, from my experience, I always thought that brainstorming generated better results when done directly together in teams. In fact, I think and produce better ideas when I work in teams versus alone. This is obviously the case when the brainstorming process is done right although it's not as efficient as working individually.
Today, I found out that I was wrong. After reading this post: Brainstorming? Try doing it virtually by Jessica Lipnack who quoted some research results, I came to realize what I was missing from the bigger picture. According to research studies, virtual brainstorming outperforms brainstorming groups nearly by two times.
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3 comments:
I wonder if that is actually true. Because I've always found that if you are brainstorming in a group you just think of new ideas by listening to other people's ideas. I mean over time if i was just sitting by myself I would be able to think of a bunch of ideas but i still feel like it is crucial to hear other people's ideas because you never know what will spark in your mind.
@ Kim and Yousif
I'm with Kim on this one. I don't see how virtual brainstorming can outperform the orthodox version nearly two-fold.
Plus, I'm sure there are thousands are research reports that direct data to prove just the opposite.
Marketing and Advertising the perfect example to prove this. Throw a bunch of brains in a room, one throws out an idea (dumb or not) then another brain works ideas off of the original one and so on until there is an agreed upon idea.
I see how this is plausible. For some reason I always think of new ideas in two places: class and in the shower. Those just happen to be about the worst possible places.
That doesn't mean there are no benefits to meetings. Short, focused meetings with a small group can bring everyone up-to-date. A ten minute meeting over a coffee or a drink will move the team forward as a whole. This allows your brain to close open loops (like ideas that are running wild) and focus on inventing new things (just hopefully not in the shower).
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