phrases are rules and which are criticisms, and what each phrase might mean. Then read
the text. Write one phrase in each gap.
blocking
illusion of group productivity
combine and improve ideas
personal contribution
evaluation apprehension
social matching effect
focus on quantity
welcome unusual ideas
free riderproblem
withhold criticism
2)
Finally, without looking back at the text, try to remember as much as you can
about each phrase above. Discuss your ideas with a partner.
The problem with brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the most popular techniques used in meetings to generate ideas
for solving a specific problem. Alex Osborn, the inventor of the term
‘Brainstorming’, established four rules.
• Firstly, it’s important to ____1_____. Write everything down, the more ideas, the
better.
• Secondly, participants need to ____2______. Never criticise another person’s idea
during the brainstorming session, as it will prevent people from being creative. There’s
plenty of time for criticism in the evaluation stage later.
• Thirdly, we should _____3_____. Try to challenge your assumptions
and ask ‘what if …?’ questions.
• Finally, try to ________4_______. This is the real power of brainstorming: person A’s
crazy idea, which would never work in practice, may get person B thinking about a
similar idea which might just work. Even better, person A’s crazy idea and person C’s
crazy idea can be combined, taking the best parts of each. So instead of saying ‘no’ or
‘yes, but …’ we need to train ourselves to say ‘yes, and …’.
A successful brainstorming session can be really useful, but is it always as effective as it
could be? Researchers have identified many possible problems, all of which suggest that
it is far from perfect.
First of all, there’s the ____5______. This comes from the idea of travelling by bus
without a ticket. Why should I bother to buy a ticket when the bus is going anyway?
From a selfish point of view, it’s in my interest to ride for free and let others pay for their
tickets. The same goes for a brainstorming meeting: why I should I make the effort to be
creative when all the benefits, and the praise for good ideas, go to the group? From a
selfish point of view, it’s in my interest to let everyone else do all the work. Even if
people don’t think in such simple terms, it can be demotivating to keep generating ideas
when you know you will not be praised or rewarded personally for them, especially if
you don’t have especially a strong sense of being part of a team.
A related problem is called the ______6________. Observers have noted that we try to
match our behaviour to the behaviour of other people in the room. So if everyone else is
sitting silently, or focusing only on sensible ideas, we feel pressure to do the same. Of
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