The problem with ideation online
Maybe it is just me because I have many friends in the advertising industry, given my background.
But I have this statement coming back to me time-to-time:
You can't do brainstorming/ideation remotely.
If you collect a bunch of people in an online space, you can't produce the same results (a collection of ideas) for a problem.
The number one reason is chemistry. Because apparently, chemistry is super important when it comes to creativity.
Today, I give you some background on how brainstorming works, whether you should use it, and why online is way better. And also, what the heck is chemistry within teams?
Ok, but what is brainstorming anyway?
It comes from the ad industry from the 50s. It is what most people think about when they say brainstorming:
Collect a bunch of people into a room.
Generate many ideas.
Favor the unusual/unique ones.
Review them later.
No judgment on new ideas during the brainstorming - anything can go.
Now, the original concept has many-many flaws. But it is widely adopted, even by non-creative teams, when they need new ideas.
Later, facilitation became more dominant to combat inactivity, dominance during sessions, and regression to the mean. That part, by the way, is where we have problems.
The problem with ideation IRL
It's cultural reduction - you have a complex process, but you are aware of only part of it, the core element, and you start using it - but without the details.
It happens to everyone. You think you know what you do - but you don't.
With brainstorming, most people do it based on the 50s terms. Facilitation for most means that they write ideas to a board - that's it.
Also, one crucial part is missing from brainstorming in most cases - the briefing. The briefing document is what keeps the context for the ideation. It is very precise, has limits, and explains why.
I only saw a handful of productive brainstorming during my decades-long career, and they were all organized by professionals. It's not easy to do - it seems easy, but it isn't.
Without facilitation, people tend to deviate from the briefing, one or two dominant extroverts rule the session, or everyone simply goes for the mean average conformism.
Why online is better?
Online, you equalize the team - introverts can stand up and have a voice, but extroverts can't use as many options to dominate the session.
Online, you can have a pre-session part, which is fully asynchronous. People can throw ideas in written form, which you can grab and discuss in a virtual setting.
Facilitating online is also much easier with a simple passing the mic technique. Plus, virtual whiteboards are much more collaborative than their IRL counterparts.
Lastly, when it comes to shortlisting ideas, voting can be anonymous - reducing evaluation apprehension for those with skin in the game or less confident.
But chemistry!
Yeah, that. When people say "chemistry within the team," they tend to mean two things:
IRL collaborative conversations are driven by proximity and eye contact. Science shows that we bounce around each other's minds through our eyes. Online, this is harder, as we are focused on the screen.
Team synergy and bonding. The more bonded the team, the higher impact they have when collaborating in a free-flow setup, like brainstorming.
The second one is easier to address. It is a synergy and team strength question - nothing to do with the success of brainstorming. Brainstorming won't do much magic if your team is not connected and synched. Also, you can still mess up the brainstorming session if they are super bonded.
The first one is tricky. And I think it depends on our belief in people, plus the individual setup of our teams.
If we believe that people tend to gravitate towards unique ideas AND you have truly creative people in your team, then you might have that "chemistry."
Personally, I believe that in almost all cases, people are driven toward conformity. Especially in industries where problem-solving through processes and analytical thinking is dominant - tech, for example.
Suppose 99% of your job is to analyze a problem, provide solutions, and implement changes, which is usually true for almost all tech-related industries. In that case, you will struggle with true free-flowing creativity.
Creativity gives zero crap about problems. It flows just for the sake of it. You can direct that thinking in a direction - such as a brainstorming session - but people who are amazing problem-solvers, not necessarily creative ones.
If you are in problem-solving mode, you can't generate innovative ideas. You need a specific state of mind to do that.
Hence why, online, it is better to do brainstorming. It removes that "chemistry" element from the picture, sharply facilitating the mind to a free-flowing state.
If you want to dive a bit deeper into how professionals do this, head to a podcast episode I did with Chris Kalaboukis - he has been doing ideation facilitation in the Valley for decades, now primarily online.
The 5 rules of online brainstorming
If you are ready to do a proper brainstorming session for innovation purposes, remember the golden 5 rules to upkeep at all costs:
Brainstorming starts with a super precise briefing that gives context, limits the angle of ideas, and explains the why. This briefing can also be part of a pre-session collaborative meeting.
The session should have 3 rules: any ideas can go (within the brief), the more ideas, the better, and don't worry about strategic or tactical details. These are just ideas.
Relentlessly limit participation in a session. At most 5 people + facilitator.
All sessions should be heavily facilitated to be inclusive, equal, and collaborative for everyone. It goes without saying, but documentation of the session is part of the facilitation.
Follow up the session with a voting/shortlisting of ideas. This should be super anonymous, and you can extend it to the wider team to those who weren't part of the meeting.
So how do you do brainstorming?
Peter
