How many times have you gone to a meeting or retreat where brainstorming was part of the agenda? If you’re lucky, lots of good ideas were generated and someone wrote them down. They may have even distributed the list after the meeting, but unfortunately, too many times it stops there.
Brainstorming is a great activity that does allow groups to feed off of each other and come up with more/better/more creative ideas than if someone developed a list solo. But for this technique to be effective, it’s all about the follow up.
After the meeting, the chair should type up the list and distribute it. With it should either be explicit decisions as to which ideas will move forward and who is responsible for them, or there should be a specific time for those decisions to be made. (To facilitate further discussions, it helps to number all the items so you can say: “I like #4” or “It seems like #5 and 8 could be combined.”)
The ultimate intent of brainstorming is better action, not just a pretty list. As the chair or facilitator of a group that engages in that exercise, it’s up to YOU to ensure that the doing follows.
— beth triplett
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