Why we do brainstorming

Although it was already proven in some research papers, I almost concluded that a brainstorming with a lot of people is less productive than in making ideas. It is better if we let individuals think hard to come up with the ideas and then let the ideas compete each other. Granted, I still feel that brainstormings with less than 5 equal-level professionals can be productive in making ideas. However, if the number exceeds 10, it almost always makes fewer outputs.

These days, I became to know the reason – in a brainstorming, we try to make an atmosphere in which everyone can make ideas freely without being worried about the quality, and due to that atmosphere, it is difficult to kill mediocre ideas made by specific less-qualified individuals. One may say that "then you can just set a discipline of killing bad ideas at the time of the idea selection." However, that also is difficult. In many organizations, the attendees of the brainstorming are almost always the same, and what will happen if one's ideas are always continuously not selected by the group? That person may get demotivated.

So what is the point of doing brainstorming? I these days feel that it is still extremely important, not to make ideas but to obtain the consent of all the team members. All ideas should be executed, and in the execution, commitment matters a lot. That commitment often comes from the feeling that the person has been involved in the decision-making process. No one wants to commit to a plan which was imposed by the others. Indeed, if all human beings are rational and less emotional, the best way is to let the small number of smartest people make the plan and let all follow it. However, most of the people are not like that, and that is why we need to obtain consent from the others.

We always have to think about the balance. I don't think it's wise to let everyone be involved in the entire process, and I personally feel that the best choice is to let every key person join the initial discussions and the final discussions.