Brainstorming and A Nation of Spectators

This site is about techniques and ideas around brainstorming and creative-thinking. One of the compelling things about this subject is the topic of the following article, taken from a text on brainstorming published in the 1950s:

One of America's most serious problems is that we are becoming a nation of spectators. It is significant that our national pastime is baseball, in which only eighteen people play while thousands sit in the stands, millions more listen on radio and watch on television.

We tend to go to large schools where we listen to lectures, attend movies or plays; listen to concerts or phonograph records. We exalt the star, the prima donna, and deprecate our own efforts. The same thing is true in our business life. Too often we go along doing a routine job, just watching the important moves being made by others.

This is not only bad for the individual who has little chance to express himself, to grow and learn; it is incredibly bad for the country.

We used to be proud of our pioneer heritage, in which "rugged individualist" was not just a trite political phrase, but also a prime necessity. Even in World War II our infantry rated the leadership ability of privates who could and did take over when their officers were killed as a prime war asset . This did not very often happen in the armies of our enemies.

Yet, by group living, by being spectators in life, we are wasting away this great natural resource at a time when we need it most.

We desperately need the ideas of everyone. We have vast problems of survival, and to solve them we must mobilize the brainpower of all our citizens.

The trend toward sheep-like attendance of great masses of people at meetings of all kinds has been a matter of concern to many of the nation's forward thinkers.

They have watched people attending all sorts of gatherings, from sales conferences to religious conferences, people gathered to solve the smallest or the biggest problems of the world-and they have seen them sitting, row on row, contributing nothing from their own experience or intellects. Never do they get a chance to participate.

One of the most creative of the people deeply concerned with this problem was Don Phillips, President of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. He not only saw the problem, he analyzed it, and then came up with a solution, which works. His analysis is worth reprinting, for before we brainstorm we must understand reasons why most people will not speak up in groups of all sizes from small committees to huge conventions.

FACTORS PREVENTING SELF-EXPRESSION IN GROUPS

1) EARLY TRAINING HAS NOT ENCOURAGED DISCUSSION

• At home-parental domination. At church-"Listen!"
• At school-"Speak when spoken to," "Answer teacher's questions!"
• In community-"Children should be seen and not heard!"
• Enjoy listening-no mental strain and seems to be proper member role.
• Depend on experts, leaders, parents, etc. More courteous to listen.
• Wait to get new or startling idea to compete favorably with others.
• "If I suggest anything, I'll be put on a committee."

2) IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT NOT CONSIDERED

• Room stuffy, too hot, too cold, poorly lighted.
• Seating arrangements formal or uncomfortable.
• Speaker separated from group-too far away, or platform or stage too high, or
• Members of group cannot see or cannot hear speaker.
• Room too large-feeling of "barniness."

3) LITTLE OR NO PREPARATION OF GROUP FOR DISCUSSION

• No feeling of belonging.
• Poor choice of subject - "No interest in it", "Don't know enough about it to comment", too broad, untimely.
• Topic poorly handled
  • speaker tells all-nothing left to discuss
  • not challenging-creating passivity
  • incomplete introduction to question
  • no advance warning so no readiness nor preparation.
• Questions to group - poorly worded, not heard, patronizing.
• Feeling of futility - subject doesn't lend itself to action, from past experience, "nothing can or will be done anyway."
• Resistance to imposed program-"They never ask me what I want."

4) DOMINATION BY OTHERS

• Unskilled leader-offers little encouragement or opportunity.
• Monopolizing member-unaware of or unwilling to accept proper role.
• Expert-who creates dependence by being too expert.
• The "Brass"-in whose presence few people care to "stick their necks out." Difference in social, educational, or economic status is similar.

5) FEAR OF RIDICULE

• Fear of taking a stand which may be unpopular to friends.
• Fear of deficiency in grammar, physical expression (stuttering, weak voice, etc.), emotional control (temperament, blushing, shaky voice), fluency , general appearance.
• Fear of appearing stupid, or not using "correct" parliamentary procedure.

6) GENERAL FEELING OF INFERIORITY

• "I don't know much anyway-let the others talk."
• "Don't dare talk in such a large place, or in front of so many people."
• "I can't say what I really mean when I'm on my feet."
• Fear of being contradicted and of inability to "hold my own" in argument.
• Fear of offending others.
• Fear of expressing what may be minority opinion.
• Fear of taking time when so little has been saved for discussion.

To solve the problem of mass silence, he devised a system which he named "Discussion 66," but which others have referred to as Phillips 66. Under this system a large group is broken down into small committee sessions of six members, who discuss the problem under attack for six minutes. Then they contribute suggestions or questions. The important thing is that each individual feels much freer in the small group to take part. He is encouraged to participate; he is made to feel that he, as an individual, is important, that his ideas have value, that his word is needed.

That idea of Phillips 66 has been used successfully in hundreds of different ways, and it has been combined with brainstorming.

Brainstorming can be done either individually or in a group; in group brainstorming sessions, the participants are encouraged, and often expected, to share their ideas with one another as soon as they are generated. The key to brainstorming is not to interrupt the thought process. As ideas come to the mind, they are captured and stimulate the development of better ideas. Brainstorming has some limited use in enhancing creativity in that generating a broad selection of ideas may lead to a unique and improved concept.

It is a means of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem solving through the maxim quantity breeds quality. The greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.

It is often emphasized in brainstorming sessions that you should put criticism 'on hold'. Instead of immediately stating what might be wrong with an idea, the participants focus on extending or adding to it, reserving criticism for a later 'critical stage' of the process. The assertion is that when suspending judgment, you create a supportive atmosphere where participants feel free to generate unusual ideas. However, persistent respectful criticism of ideas by a minority dissenter can reduce groupthink, leading to more and better quality ideas.

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