futurethink

Is brainstorming a tool in your innovation arsenal? If so, make sure you move beyond the freewheeling, no-criticism-allowed model and introduce a little argument into the mix.

Brainstorms create a safe place for people to propose unconventional ideas without judgment. That’s a great start—but truly disruptive innovation won’t happen when opposition is stifled. Openness to new ideas is paramount, but so is the freedom to argue in a productive manner. Evaluating what doesn’t work about an idea often sparks an even better solution. As Jonah Lehrer writes in a recent New Yorker article: “…dissent stimulates new ideas because it encourages us to engage more fully with the work of others and to reassess our viewpoints.” In fact, many studies have shown that exposure to contradicting ideas enhances individual creativity.

At futurethink, we support structured “arguments” as part of the innovation process. To introduce frameworks for healthy dissent in your organization, follow these four key tips:

1. If your team isn’t accustomed to open dissent, put people at ease by introducing it slowly and methodically.
2. Ensure arguments are directed toward ideas—not people.
3. Make it fun. Framing disagreement as a debate, with a clear structure for forming arguments and counterarguments, can appeal to peoples’ competitive sides.
4. Once teams get comfortable, loosen the guidelines around dissent. A supportive culture will naturally sustain disagreements that lead to important developments.

How do you support dissent in your organization? Share with us below.

Remember, breakthrough innovation is worth fighting for.

Scott Laningham, Producer and Host of IBM's developerWorks podcast show, interviewed futurethink CEO Lisa Bodell at SXSWi this past weekend.

In the last few decades, collaboration and brainstorming have reigned supreme. Private offices were redesigned as open workplans with zero privacy. Lingo like “teamwork” and “team player” moved from the locker room into the conference room. The prevailing belief was that to promote a culture of innovation and creativity, you must create a collaborative environment.

Not-So-Perfect Brainstorm
However, recent compelling research suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption. And, according to a handful of prominent psychologists, the most creative people in many fields are often introverted. Several studies show that group brainstorming can actually block the brain’s ability to solve problems and generate novel ideas.

Do Not Disturb
These studies were cited in author Susan Cain's article in the New York Times challenging the “groupthink” mentality. Privacy, she claims, makes us more productive, more creative, and even helps us learn. Decades of research show that individuals almost always perform better than groups, and figures like Apple’s engineering genius Steve Wozniak are advising people to “work alone...not on a committee. Not on a team.”

Make It a Hybrid

At futurethink, we are passionate about the concepts and trends that will shape the next generation of businesses.

In a fascinating case study, our CEO Lisa Bodell, has identified how corporate culture will play a transformative role in tomorrow’s organizations. Lisa is currently in the running to present this topic at the annual SXSW conference, which brings together the most innovative minds in music, film, and the Web. A vote from you can make it happen!

Little Bigs: How Small Changes Ignite Innovation

To remain relevant in turbulent times, companies must build and sustain positive corporate culture. Often, we respond to unpredictability by implementing processes that can trump culture. In fact, the same mechanisms meant to promote productivity can rob us of the ability and time to be creative and add value.

This experiential case-study session is a call to arms: it’s time to hit the reset button on how we think and work. Instead of forcing one-size-fits-all initiatives upon employees, learn how small adjustments to everyday things can create big ripple effects. Discover how one prominent organization created a new breed of employee that helped reset the corporate culture, not from the top down or bottom up, but from the middle out. Master the small steps needed to shake up standard practices—from unproductive meetings to ineffective strategy sessions—and bring about big breakthroughs in innovation.

Find the little-bigs that will reinvent your organization—and awaken your ability to think, and ultimately, take control of the future.

Session Questions

1. Given the thousands of strategy books available, why aren't more businesses reaching their potential?
2. Why do large cultural-change initiatives often fail?
3. How can organizations reignite critical skills such as inquiry, curiosity, creative problem solving, storytelling, independence, etc.?
4. What little things can we change to create big ripples in our organization's culture?
5. What practical tools for positive culture change can we implement immediately?

Vote now to bring futurethink to Austin in 2012!