Brainstorming — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 10

This article is part of a series on effective meetings between Japanese and non-Japanese.

Brainstorming is a favorite technique of Americans, but it can mystify Japanese participants. All of a sudden, the meeting seems to veer off track, and people spit out one crazy idea after another. The discussion meanders, never seeming to reach a conclusion. But there is a method to the madness.

Brainstorming is actually quite similar to that other great American art: jazz. Both are improvisational, unplanned, unstructured, and designed to maximize the creativity of the participants. Brainstorming is a specialized type of meeting activity, with the aim of generating ideas. But if one doesn’t realize that brainstorming is happening, or doesn’t know the unwritten rules, it can be confusing. And to compound the matter, Americans tend to launch into brainstorming mode automatically, without necessarily signaling that they have done so. This happens because brainstorming is such a natural and normal activity for Americans – they may not realize that it’s not always familiar or comfortable for people from other cultures. But that can leave others wondering why the group is suddenly throwing out all sorts of random suggestions.

Brainstorming is usually aimed at generating ideas for solving a certain problem. Its main purpose is to generate as many, and as creative, options as possible. 

When done properly, a brainstorming session starts with a clear indication of the change in activity, such as “Let’s do some brainstorming” or “Brainstorming would be a good way to generate some ideas.” Then, the participants begin to say every idea that occurs to them, without stopping to take the time to analyze them. This accounts for the rapid pace of brainstorming. And like the members of a jazz band, improvisers build off one another, with one person’s idea inspiring another person to come up with something different. That is why brainstorming is done as a group activity, to leverage the synergy effect of the group. Also, the group should not stop to analyze or critique any of the ideas. That is thought to interfere with the creative process. So no negative comments are allowed, even when an absolutely ridiculous idea is raised. The brainstorming time is devoted to idea generation; the analysis comes at the next stage.

In a well-run brainstorming meeting, someone should be recording the ideas that are generated, so that they are captured in the moment. Typically that is done on a whiteboard or flipchart. If nobody is recording them, it might be good to say something like “Why don’t we write down all these good ideas?”

One common problem when Americans are brainstorming is that they like it so much – the free-flowing conversation, the suspension of criticism – that they have a tendency to get stuck in brainstorming mode, leading to potentially interminable meetings. In order to prevent this, it’s best to determine in advance how long the brainstorming session should last, by saying something like “Let’s set a time limit for the brainstorming. How about 20 minutes?” If that hasn’t been done, then all one can do is interject and urge the group to stop. However, this should be done in a positive manner. “We have generated so many good ideas, why don’t we stop brainstorming and start analyzing them?” or “We’ve done a great job at brainstorming, I think we’re ready to start winnowing down this list of good ideas.”

For more on how to make your cross-cultural meetings effective, get a copy of our free bilingual ebook here.