Friday, June 1, 2012
Stupid than Wise
Before think big, I like to explore how thinking is developed. There is a Chinese old saying that, "Three stupid fellows is wiser than a master." It gives me a sense of collective wisdom is more workable than a single wise idea. I believe it expresses the power of team work. This is exactly what we are doing in the Master Mind group. I had a preliminary idea, feel safe to express to the group, getting feedback, expanding my idea in the discussion, affirmed by encouragement, clarity on the direction, commit to action, keep on getting feedback, trial and error, gaining more insights, enjoy the journey, focus on the thinking, more relevant ideas emerging, express with more confidence, thinking beyond my limitation, let the Big-ness to carry me, it is light with the flow.....
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Nice - A few insights around the ideas that team work, brainstorming and groupthink leads to more and a better quality of ideas. It short is has been proved to be false. The evidence rather suggests that the larger the group the less creative, innovative and productive it is.
ReplyDeleteRecent studies show that open plan offices in particular lead to impaired memory, increased staff turnover, illness, hostility, de-motivation and insecurity. That people who work in open plan offices are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, elevated levels of stress, susceptibility to illness especially flu, and argue more with colleagues.
The most damning argument is the simplest -- that the biggest challenge to innovative and productivity is interruption.
Of course a small intimate group can and does have advantages, in that they can expose us to new narratives, but it's alone that we creatively think through and apply them.
I've always like the intimate mastermind model, but in it's passive collaborative form, using email, instant messaging, cloud documents and online chat tools, and not in the active form of meetings and groupthink. The evidence is weighing in on this on well.
In fact organisational psychology now generally argues that business is insane to use group mediums for creative work. But it's the neuroscience that is showing us why it doesn't work. But I'll spare you the detail :)
You trigger me to think : What is the inter-relationship between Think Big and Group-Think. I think Group-Think creates a situation of " Iron to Iron " - polishing one thought to the finest state as much as possible that would also be accepted by the group as the best. During the process, the openness in accepting each others' difference will blossom a new thought. It seems like a process of Think Bigger or Think Better.
ReplyDeleteSome may think Group-Think may create argument, disagreement and compromise. May be but it is not my intention.