[IxDA Discuss] Balancing brainstorm participants

[Sandra Kogan]

Hi Mike, I've conducted many focus group sessions over the years with mixed
results. Writing out the rules as others suggested is usually very helpful,
and having a relentless moderator is essential (you need to remind everyone
to stick to the rules). I've had some success with the KJ method (described
by Jared) and have also been using different brainstorming techniques for
specific situations. I've had a lot of success using the six thinking hats
(Edward de Bono). I've modified it to work in different scenarios and it's
always worked well. It gives people a specific role (thinking hat) and
really gets people talking and thinking.

Here's some info on the Six Thinking Hats (you can google it for lots more
info):

The *Six Thinking Hats technique *of *Edward de Bono* is a model that can be
used for *exploring different perspectives towards a complex situation or
challenge*. Seeing things in various ways is often a good idea in strategy
formation or complex decision-making processes.

The STH technique is designed to help individuals deliberately adopt a
variety of perspectives on a subject that may be very different from the one
that they might most naturally assume. In wearing a particular thinking hat,
people play roles, or "as if" themselves into a particular perspective. For
instance, one could play the devil's advocate, even if only for the sake of
generating discussion. The purpose of devil's advocacy is to deliberately
challenge an idea: be critical, look for what is wrong with it.

Each of the Hats is named for a color that is mnemonically descriptive of
the perspective one adopts when wearing the particular hat. For example the
devil's advocacy is what one engages in when wearing the Black Thinking Hat.


The 6 hats and the perspectives they represent are:

   -

    White (Observer) White paper; Neutral; focus on information
   available, objective FACTS, what is needed, how it can be obtained
   -

   Red (Self, Other) Fire, warmth; EMOTIONS, FEELINGS, intuition,
   hunches; present views without explanation, justification
   -

   *Black* (Self, Other) Stern judge wearing black robe; judgmental;
   critical; why something is wrong; LOGICAL NEGATIVE view.
   -

   Yellow (Self, Other) Sunshine; optimism; LOGICAL POSITIVE view; looks
   for benefits, what's good.
   -

   Green (Self, Other) Vegetation; CREATIVE thinking; possibilities and
   hypotheses; new ideas
   -

   Blue (Observer) Sky; cool; overview; CONTROL of PROCESS, STEPS, OTHER
   HATS; chairperson, organizer; thinking about thinking

Good luck!

Sandra

On 9/10/07, Mike Wood <mjwood at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Thanks so much for your help on my question regarding studio orgs, amazon
> is
> rushing me your recommended resources. I have another question for which I
> could use some pointers/resources, etc. How do you balance the
> conversation
> when participating in a larger brainstorm or design meeting? How do you
> make
> sure you benefit from quieter folks' opinions, stop the louder folks from
> dominating the discussion, reduce interupting, etc. The only formal method
> I have seen is passing the conch shell or the talking stick but I that
> seems
> a bit limiting.
>
> We are fortunate to have a moderator for our larger design discussions so
> we
> have some flexibility on implementing solutions.
>
> Look forward to your ideas.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mike
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