Would you be upset if I told you that your team’s “innovative” ideas are not even a hairline above mediocre? What if I told you that I KNOW that three things are stopping your team from having the BEST innovative thinking sessions. These three things you might not have even considered which are (1) unconscious bias, (2) lack of FULL self-expression, and (3) Groupthink. Then what if I told you that there was a FREE tool that would help your team overcome all three of these obstacles so you could maximize your brainstorm power and come up with remarkably innovative ideas?
Unconscious Bias
“You really irritate me as a person, therefore every idea you have is terrible”
You might not like someone’s idea unconsciously, not because their idea is bad, but because of an unconscious bias that you have against them. Maybe Sandra is not reliable in completing her TPS reports and she volunteers to write a TPS report for the next project. Your brain will then tell you she has a bad idea and to shut Sandra’s idea down. But what if she had a good point? What if she has specific knowledge to writing that report? It’s ok, It’s not your fault, you can blame your DNA. All humans have unconscious bias. This is what our brains do all the time, and we don’t even realize it. If you are in a room full of people trying to be creative, unconscious bias will be sure to prevent you from coming up with the best ideas.
Lack of Full Self-Expression
“I’m scared to share my idea because I’m afraid it will get shut down, so I just won’t say it at all”
The foundation of innovative thinking comes from people on teams who can fully express their ideas. Due to the nature of many workplace cultures, the ability for each person to be completely comfortable to fully express their ideas is often hindered. Because of this reality, team brainstorm sessions actually end up being completely mediocre. The best ideas can instantly get shut down, or even worse, not even shared.
Groupthink
“We don’t want to cause a conflict, so let’s just go with Nancy’s idea”
When teams have creative brainstorming sessions, another fault can occur called groupthink. When groupthink occurs, everyone on the team is values the desire to maintain good relationships over the desire to make the best decision. Rather then coming up with innovative ideas, the team instead chooses the most mediocre choice.
The Solution
This is where this new free brainstorm app, Candor comes into play. Created by Loran Nordgren, an organizational performance professor at the Kellogg School of Management, this app allows your team to try a new approach to innovative thinking.
Instead of sharing ideas in person at the meeting, where bias, groupthink and lack of self-expression would occur and limit the creative process, teams can use this app to generate ideas privately before the meeting. Which lets them then use the precious meeting time to focus on the ideas that have already been generated. Game changer.
A Great Tool For Innovative Thinking
Here’s how the app works:
- You download the Candor app, and invite your team using their email addresses.
- Send your team the question, problem or topic you all want to address during the next meeting.
- Everyone generates and submits their ideas on the app privately before the meeting begins.
- During the meeting, everyone sees the list of ideas, but doesn’t know who came up with what idea. Then an open discussion begins.
- If it’s necessary, everyone can vote on the ideas through the app to find the best solution.
Here is why the app works:
- Everyone gets a voice
You know those quiet people on your team? They have brilliant ideas that deserve equal respect.
- No one can use their own bias to judge the quality of the idea.
So because Sally and John are having an argument, they can’t use this brainstorm session as fuel to their fire.
- Produce more, higher quality ideas
People don’t just shoot for the easy answer, have more time to generate quality ideas and thoughts, and don’t get stuck on the first idea that gets thrown out.
Have you used the Candor app already with your team? Let us know in the comments.
Want to spend more time in the creative thought process and learn more about innovative thinking? Learn about our FreshBiz Game Based Workshop where your team learns the entrepreneurial mindset and takes innovative thinking and collaboration to a new level.
