Tap Collective Intelligence—Be a Brainstorm
Facilitator
Why Brainstorm?
“Digging a hole deeper in the wrong
place will not necessarily get you oil,” warns creative
thinking guru Edward deBono. “For that you have to
start digging elsewhere.”
The reason deBono made such a remark is to
drive home the message to companies that reengineering,
quality control and continuous improvement tools and techniques
are not the only parameters that guide a company’s
success. There is much more to it.
As Einstein put it "imagination is
more important than knowledge". Creativity is essential
source to the quest for knowledge. The quest for making
dream come true, success in business deserves the best of
skills, knowledge, imagination and creativity.
Today’s organisations are system driven.
Intelligence and creativity of the people who do the work
are not given proper due. The addiction of companies to
continuous improvement has overlooked the principles of
creative thinking.
In this competitive market, companies increasingly
demand that employees find new and better ways of getting
the job done. People need to use this resource- their imagination
and creative thinking.
Organisations need to make the shift from
left-brain control (analytical) to whole-brain thinking
(analytical and creative). People should not just be provoked,
but invoked and evoked. A level of intelligence and collaboration
that greatly enhances an organisation’s ability to
survive and thrive well into the 21st century must be awakened.
One way of provoking such whole-brain thinking
is to set up brainstorming sessions.
Facilitating a brainstorming session is a
multifaceted task. In reality, the trained facilitator is
more like ten people than one, exhibiting the broad spectrum
of personalities, as needed to get the job done.
Ten personas of a brainstorm
facilitator
1.Conductor
A skilled brainstorm facilitator knows how
to orchestrate a “dissonant” group of people.
In this mode, the facilitator evokes contributions from
everyone in the group.
2.Alchemist
A good brainstorm facilitator is a wizard
in identifying genius in the group and helps them to come
forward with their views.
3.Dancer
Like a dancer, the facilitator sets the pace
for the discussion. He sparks ideas in the group by his
prompts and nudges.
4.Mad Scientist
He is a mad scientist who cares little for
logical and rational thinking but places more importance
on imagination. Imagination is the seed of all inventions.
5.Diamond Cutter
The skilled brainstorm facilitator is a craftsman
par excellence. He is focused, precise, dedicated and able
to get to the heart of the matter. He makes sure that no
one is hurt in the process.
6.Actor
The brainstorm facilitator is an actor. He
should believe in his role and live the person he intends
to depict. The group will gain confidence and participate
actively in the session.
7.Environmentalist
A facilitator pursues everything and wastes
nothing. He leaves no imagination unturned. To him, there
is no such thing as a bad idea, only ideas whose usefulness
has not yet been fully explored.
8.Officer of the law
It is facilitator’s most important job.
He has the task of enforcing law and order. He states the
ground rules at the beginning of the session and sees to
that no one crosses the line.
9.Servant
Sometimes a brainstorm facilitator gets carried
away by the group energy and uses the position to foist
his ideas on others and manipulate the group into his way
of thinking.
He should be careful not to fall into this
trap. His job is to enable others to arrive at their solution.
10. Stand-up comic
Humour is the brainstorm facilitator’s
powerful tools. Humour often signals most promising ideas.
It also makes the facilitator more likeable and the group
amenable to the facilitator’s direction as the session
proceeds.
Further Reading: The Journal for Quality
& Participation, Vol 21, No:6, By M Ditkoff.
