Andre Ivanchuk

A variety of reasons play a role in the behavior of an individual within a group context. Through the lens of Psychology alone, factors like fear, rejection and self-esteem significantly stifle a person’s ability to contribute value. Corporate stigmas like bureaucracy, hierarchy and personal agendas dramatically alter the immediate and the long-term performance of a team, and the organization.

A study (PDF) conducted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and INSTEAD Business School revealed that traditional group brainstorming sessions yield ideas that are both lower in quality and quantity. Allowing time for participants to individually generate ideas, then bring the ideas into the collaborative environment proved to be ideal.

Based on this research, I’ve developed a Dynamically Hybrid Group Brainstorming method. This approach allows for the ideal time and setting needed for optimal individual thinking by allowing members to approach the challenge individually in their own environment under terms that stimulate creative thought and ideas.

Setup:

• The Brief – Write down the challenge or the objectives. Make sure the brief is concise, and general enough as not to imply any ideas or directions. Your challenge needs to be well thought out and clear, preferably written in an Invitational Stem format (“In What Ways Might We______“). Establish specific deadlines.
• The Participants – Select the participants. The facilitator will distribute and collect the ideas.
• The Exchange – Set up a way to anonymously exchange the ideas. It could be through email, online or paper. Setting up a online password-protected publishing platform using WordPress is a great location for the exchange to happen. Publish your brief as a post and allow commenting. Advise each participant to submit their ideas as comments using factitious names. And, make sure that all comments are held for moderation by checking the option “administrator must always approve the comment” (located in the Discussion settings). This way, participants will not see other participant’s ideas. Once all ideas have been submitted, the administrator will approve the comments, thus making the submissions viewable by the group.

1. Distribute Brief – Make the brief public to the participants. Instruct them to come up with ideas and submit the results by a specific deadline. Advise everyone not to spend too much time elaborating on each idea, simply note the idea or thought, and move on. Quantity is more important than quality at this point. Encourage the individuals to work in their desired environments (cafe, bookstore, etc.)

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Complacency and apathy are the beginning of a downward spiral; for individuals and organizations. In the context of productivity and accomplishment, a forward tension exists between two factors; Skill Level and Challenge Level.

Skill – the ability to do something well; expertise
Challenge – a task or situation that tests someone’s abilities

Both factors are organic, ever-changing and expandable. Therefore individuals and organizations have the ability to maximize the output of ideas, innovations and productivity by identifying and intentionally balancing the Skill and Challenge levels.

Flow theory, coined by Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is the mental state of performance when an individual with a task at hand experiences energized focus, complete involvement, and achievement.

Flow is focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task. (Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman)

According to Mihaly, three condition must be present to achieve Flow:

1. One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals. This adds direction and structure to the task.
2. One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and his or her own perceived skills. One must have confidence that he or she is capable to do the task at hand.
3. The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and allows him or her to adjust his or her performance to maintain the flow state.

If one possesses highly developed and unique skills, and applies the expertise in a non-challenging context – feelings of relaxation, boredom and dissatisfaction will accompany the task, ultimately leading towards apathy and complacency. Similarly, if one places themselves in a highly challenging situation without having the right skill set, feelings of anxiety and worry will arise – also resulting in apathy and complacency.

Therefore, by balancing high levels of Skill and Challenge, an individual and organizations are able to generate high output of ideas, productivity, satisfaction and forward momentum.

Given the organic nature of Skill and Challenge, one must continually strive to develop skills, and apply the skills in highly challenging situations.

Chris Brogan recently posted Quid Pro No. The situation is simple:

If I invite you to join the Facebook group for Trust Agents, it’s because I think you’ll get some value out of participating there. Say you join the group. If you now invite me to join your real estate company’s fan page after you’ve joined my book’s group, what should I do? Should I say yes because you said yes to me? But I have no interest in real estate, except for when I’m making a transaction. I was asked to join someone’s new social media application, but because I have a lot of stuff on the go, I politely declined. What I got back as a parting shot was, “Thanks. I’ll still buy your book.” It left me feeling a bit awkward. Do we expect reciprocal behavior all the time? ~ Chris Brogan

The reactions are too  familiar and typical.

The problem is that we’ve set our emotions on a throne and made them King. “Don’t offend, always reciprocate, be politically correct, neutralize the deposition, etc.” – these prerequisites govern the everyday thoughts, speech, and behaviors of so many people online and offline.  And God forbid that we not adhere to the selfish guidelines of “for every action there should be an equal reaction” within social circles – or else people start acting like a bunch of five-year-olds when their expectations are not met.

Here’s a simple solution to those who cannot accept a “no”

1. Reset your expectations - take a look at what you’re expecting of others and whether these expectations are realistic or not.
2. Stop acting like a child – just grow up! If someone does not meet your expectations, or reciprocate your kind gesture – don’t whine and pout.
3. De-throne your emotions – stop living your life though the lens of your emotions.

1. Define the Goal – The things are you trying to accomplish; set up measurable and realistic goals; also setup several audacious goals – honor and respect them as well. Throughout the campaign, never lose sight of the goal(s). Write the goals down and keep them in front of you.

Measure Success – Also, you must establish means by which you will know when your actions are yielding desirable results. Ask this questions, “When do I know our actions are yielding successful results?”

2. Develop a Strategy – Design an action plan and a timeline; think short-term and long-term.

3.  Develop a Team – Build the team very early on. Cast the vision and make sure the team believes in the vision; make sure they are all on board. Empower them to fully execute the vision. Do not micromanage them. Allow honest and open feedback from each person.  Trust your team. And always thank your team.

Suspend your ego and hire the best talent you can afford. Do not be intimidated by an individual that has more experience than you in a particular area. You are only as successful as the average of the people you spend time with.