by Dr. Cecil Clements (9th October 2012)
I have been in different situations where we’ve been part of a brainstorming group. I’m always intrigued by the dynamics that go on when people get together to brainstorm because it’s the coming together of different people, different personalities, different backgrounds, different agendas, different levels of authority – all of these come together in one room. People are asked to speak freely and invariably there are different things that happen that often prevent brainstorming from happening.
I was reading this article by Andy Eklund called ’10 ½ Ways To Unlock Your Creative Streak’. He says, “There’s a combustible mix of emotions and behaviors and negativity stops imaginative thinking in 4 ways. These are the 4 things that work their way into a brainstorming session.”
All 4 of these things kill brainstorming because brainstorming is not about finding great ideas that will work or how they will work or whether we’ve tried it or not. It’s about throwing out anything that comes to mind and then being able to take all of that, sift it through the parameters eventually that are there, and then be able to come up with some ideas that will fit into a plan.
But as the author says, “Invariably you will have different people who will come in and will either be pessimistic or confrontational, adversarial, or be dismissive or snooty – look at every idea that comes with a certain amount of disdain. Often you find facilitators who are in charge of brainstorming sessions, are very ill equipped to help people to process ideas, to get people to speak out ideas, to allow the people who would browbeat to be quietened. Facilitating is really a skill; it’s an art. Yet so often, when we head into a group to brainstorm, for example, you divide yourself into 5 or 6 tables and ask for somebody to facilitate or moderate. Everybody in the group just looks around and finds maybe one of the quieter people and tells him to do it. That person is completely ill equipped; he is voted in to be moderator. What happens then is that all of these things begin to come to the fore because the facilitator is in no position to create an atmosphere for ideas to come out.”
Arnold Anderson, writing on ‘The Effects of Negativity in the Workplace’ says “A persistent negative attitude in the workplace stifles creativity,” and it works when you are brainstorming as well. He says, “If there’s a negative attitude in brainstorming, it will kill creativity. How? When negativity takes over, people tend to stay with proven methods for fear that something new may not be effective. A negative atmosphere counteracts the feeling of innovation that can help a company to create new products or develop more efficient ways of doing business. When the workplace becomes antagonistic in nature, people do not feel the need to share ideas with each other. New ideas are not circulated and the company does not move forward.”
How true! We have a brainstorming session and we find that one or two people can hijack the whole time and kill it and nothing productive comes out of it. I’ve seen some good facilitators who are so equipped to bring out the best in people. You’ve all heard of smart goals. They’re able to move the group along and say, “Hey, keep on track. This is where we are going. We want to make sure that we are specific; we are measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound. They continuously pour into the group and say, “What are we looking at? If we are looking at specifics, what are the questions we ask?”
The five W questions come to the fore.
I have been in different situations where we’ve been part of a brainstorming group. I’m always intrigued by the dynamics that go on when people get together to brainstorm because it’s the coming together of different people, different personalities, different backgrounds, different agendas, different levels of authority – all of these come together in one room. People are asked to speak freely and invariably there are different things that happen that often prevent brainstorming from happening.
I was reading this article by Andy Eklund called ’10 ½ Ways To Unlock Your Creative Streak’. He says, “There’s a combustible mix of emotions and behaviors and negativity stops imaginative thinking in 4 ways. These are the 4 things that work their way into a brainstorming session.”
- Pessimism – You hear this often, “That won’t work.”
- Adversarial – You hear somebody say, “Let me play the devil’s advocate.” They try to undermine or say why this is not the best way and stuff like that.
- Dismissal – “Oh, we’ve already tried that.”
- Disdain – “Oh, that’s a stupid idea.”
All 4 of these things kill brainstorming because brainstorming is not about finding great ideas that will work or how they will work or whether we’ve tried it or not. It’s about throwing out anything that comes to mind and then being able to take all of that, sift it through the parameters eventually that are there, and then be able to come up with some ideas that will fit into a plan.
But as the author says, “Invariably you will have different people who will come in and will either be pessimistic or confrontational, adversarial, or be dismissive or snooty – look at every idea that comes with a certain amount of disdain. Often you find facilitators who are in charge of brainstorming sessions, are very ill equipped to help people to process ideas, to get people to speak out ideas, to allow the people who would browbeat to be quietened. Facilitating is really a skill; it’s an art. Yet so often, when we head into a group to brainstorm, for example, you divide yourself into 5 or 6 tables and ask for somebody to facilitate or moderate. Everybody in the group just looks around and finds maybe one of the quieter people and tells him to do it. That person is completely ill equipped; he is voted in to be moderator. What happens then is that all of these things begin to come to the fore because the facilitator is in no position to create an atmosphere for ideas to come out.”
Arnold Anderson, writing on ‘The Effects of Negativity in the Workplace’ says “A persistent negative attitude in the workplace stifles creativity,” and it works when you are brainstorming as well. He says, “If there’s a negative attitude in brainstorming, it will kill creativity. How? When negativity takes over, people tend to stay with proven methods for fear that something new may not be effective. A negative atmosphere counteracts the feeling of innovation that can help a company to create new products or develop more efficient ways of doing business. When the workplace becomes antagonistic in nature, people do not feel the need to share ideas with each other. New ideas are not circulated and the company does not move forward.”
How true! We have a brainstorming session and we find that one or two people can hijack the whole time and kill it and nothing productive comes out of it. I’ve seen some good facilitators who are so equipped to bring out the best in people. You’ve all heard of smart goals. They’re able to move the group along and say, “Hey, keep on track. This is where we are going. We want to make sure that we are specific; we are measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound. They continuously pour into the group and say, “What are we looking at? If we are looking at specifics, what are the questions we ask?”
The five W questions come to the fore.
- What do I want to accomplish?
- Why?
- Who is involved?
- Where? Identify location.
- Which? Identify requirements and constraints.
Then move to the question: Is it measurable? How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Then attainable: How can the goal be accomplished?
Is it relevant, worthwhile?
Finally, is it time bound? What’s the time frame?
So good facilitators are able to move a group together to come out of a brainstorming session with smart goals. Yet, good facilitators, so often, are hard to find.
How often do you all get into situations like this where there’s such a need to get a good facilitator on board, somebody who can move a group along well? Because in every group there are people who are so different, who have their own agendas.
I was reading a book by Dale Galloway, one of my professors, and he writes on ‘On-Purpose Leadership’. In his book he quotes Robert Bramson who wrote the book ‘Coping With Difficult People’. He outlines different people who are very difficult to work with. As I read that, I thought that I needed to pass this on to all of you, because I am sure that you all work with difficult people.
Then attainable: How can the goal be accomplished?
Is it relevant, worthwhile?
Finally, is it time bound? What’s the time frame?
So good facilitators are able to move a group together to come out of a brainstorming session with smart goals. Yet, good facilitators, so often, are hard to find.
How often do you all get into situations like this where there’s such a need to get a good facilitator on board, somebody who can move a group along well? Because in every group there are people who are so different, who have their own agendas.
I was reading a book by Dale Galloway, one of my professors, and he writes on ‘On-Purpose Leadership’. In his book he quotes Robert Bramson who wrote the book ‘Coping With Difficult People’. He outlines different people who are very difficult to work with. As I read that, I thought that I needed to pass this on to all of you, because I am sure that you all work with difficult people.
- The tank personality. They call it the Sherman Tank after an American tank. Basically an aggressive, often hostile person, who tries to roll over others, is pushy, manipulating, can victimize you and then turn around and make you feel very bad. How do you handle a person with this kind of personality? He says, “You don’t have to fight but you do need to decide – I am not going to allow this person to run over me. You must stand up for yourself. People who have this kind of tank personality respect leaders who have the courage and audacity to stand up to them.
- The spaced out person. This person acts and thinks as he/she came from a different planet. They are unable to listen to others. They live in a self-created world. They park where they are not supposed to; they show up where they don’t belong, they take charge when someone else has been designated to lead. If you expect emotional responsiveness from these persons, you’d probably be hurt, because you’re not going to receive it. The best way to get along with this kind of a spaced out person is to make up your mind not to let them drive you nuts; to accept them for who they are, that they are like this and not going to change, and to move on.
- The volcano. This is the person who is just waiting to explode. They are quiet, but you can see that they are bristling. They want to say something, but they are getting all their momentum going and then suddenly they say it and blow everything out of proportion. It derails what is going on in the group. They intimidate others. Everybody else just becomes quiet because there is such a degree of intensity with them.
Dale Galloway says, “I remember having someone like that in my group. The moment he finished, I turned to him and said – I’m sorry. I didn’t get that fully. Would you mind repeating what you just said? The second time when they do it, they have run out of that intensity and all that hyped up anger that came with it, and this time they are very soft and are able to speak relevantly to the group. It’s so important to understand that empathetic listening always turns the tide.”
We have a saying in our Holy Scriptures in Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” - The spoiler. This is a person who chronically complains, grumbles, acts negative. The thing to realize is that you cannot satisfy spoilers because they will never be satisfied with themselves no matter what you do. And the spoiler is always negative. Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Look through him and say – how do I get past this? Is there any good that comes out of what this person is saying even if they have a wrong attitude? Pull that out and help to project that into the group.
- The wet blanket. You’ve heard this kind of person. ‘Oh, this can’t be done, this won’t work, it’s never been done before, it’s impossible.’ This difficult person is a classic impossibility thinker. You’d hate to have this kind of person in a brainstorming group because they stifle creativity immediately. Every person has a right to be sour and pessimistic, but don’t allow that attitude to dampen your enthusiasm for life. Don’t surrender your leadership. Continue to be a possibility thinker because what they want to do is to draw you into their negative attitude. Don’t allow that. Continue to remain positive.
- The garbage collector. This person loves to rehearse and replay the injuries they have suffered at the hands of other people. They hear something and say, “Oh, you know, this happened to me; this person I worked with did this to me.” They nurse their wounds, hold onto wounded spirits, are fixated on negative emotions. Then they spread that all across the group. Before you know what’s happening, everybody is down and despondent and there’s empathy for this person; and you’ve lost track.
The best way is to be able to come up to that person and say, “We understand what you are going through, but let’s stay on track here, let’s stay on task, let’s stay focused.” - The user – one who will use the brainstorming session for themselves.
- The emotionally handicapped person – deeply wounded emotionally, but you can see that emotion begin to come out and it tends to take away the group from the main task.
How do you handle people like this? How do you handle groups that have people like this?
- Be confident of who you are. When relating to a difficult person, remember that your self-worth does not depend on what that person’s opinion of you is. That is so important. Be confident.
- Don’t allow yourself to over-react.
- Refuse to play the difficult person’s game. Don’t go along with them.
- Don’t go off on a rabbit race. And when you need to confront somebody, do it immediately.
- Stop trying to change the difficult person in your life. Accept who they are, but make sure you are able to stay on task.
- Rely on the wisdom that God has given to each one of us. God gives us wisdom. In fact, He says, “When you don’t have wisdom, ask Me and I will give it.” And I hope and pray that as you brainstorm and you look at new ideas and you tend to fuel creativity and innovation, that you will be able to handle some of the negativity that can creep in through different people with different personalities, different backgrounds who may try to derail you, I pray for God’s wisdom for you.
Let me pray for you. Almighty God, You say to ask for wisdom and You will give. And we ask. I ask on behalf on all these friends on this call. Give them wisdom today to handle every situation that comes their way, to handle difficult situations, difficult people and different personalities and to be able to stay on task, on focus and be able to do what they are required to do. I pray that their brainstorming sessions will be wonderful creative endeavors. I bless them in Your name, Lord Jesus. I pray also in Your name. Amen.
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