Getting a Group to Think Like a Genius

Team Building

Wouldn't it be great to have an Edison or Einstein, or Mozart at your next meeting?

If you had a genius at your meeting, do you think you might come up with better results?

Let me be the first to tell you that those people won't be at your next meeting.

Facilitator

But there are some things you can do as a facilitator - some techniques and tactics that you can use with the group that will help them work better.

In this article, you will learn some of the strategies of geniuses (adapted from Thinking Like a Genius, by Michael Michalko in the May 1998 issue of The Futurist), and how to apply them within any group you are working with.

Geniuses

Geniuses look at problems in many different ways.

The key to this strategy is helping a group find new perspectives.

Often a group gets "locked-in" on one specific solution or cause.

Different Perspectives

The goal should be to slow the group down and help them look at their situation from a variety of perspectives.

Once a group has an initial approach, encourage them to stop and force a new perspective - force them to re-conceptualise the problem.

Outline The Concept

Once a group has settled in on an approach, encourage them to step out of the room.

When they return, explain the concept of looking at the problem from another perspective.

Ask the group to list three or more other perspectives that this situation could be viewed from.

From that list, pick one for the group to reconsider the situation from. (If the group is large enough have subgroups work different perspectives.)

New Perspectives

The time spent in reviewing the situation from the new perspectives should be as rigorous as the first analysis.

Once the group has completed their reanalysis, have them look at all of their results.

At this point encourage them to make the best decision, given all the data they have at their disposal.

Novel Combinations

Geniuses make novel combinations.

Sometimes geniuses don't come up with new ideas but combine existing ones to make great advances.

Once a group has a variety of possible solutions (possibly by using some of the steps above), have them try to combine them, rather than just pick one.

Combining Ideas

Spur them on with questions like:

How could you do both A and B?

How could you gain the benefits of both A and D, while minimising the risks?

Forced Combinations

This may be the genius' biggest strategy of all, and one you can employ easily with groups.

Always have a few (or a lot) of disparate items on a list.

At any time that a group is stuck, ask them to force a relationship between their problem to one of the items on your list.

Breakthrough Ideas

You could also have pictures of the items, which might spur their creativity even further. These relationships may be forced, and this may be where the breakthrough comes.

Some groups or individuals will scoff at this idea as silly. Acknowledge this, but encourage them to try anyway.

They may be very pleasantly surprised. Remember too, that the quality comes with quantity rule applies here.

You may need to try more than one or two forced relationships before real progress is made.

Make Thoughts Visible

Geniuses make their thought visible.

This strategy is often put to use in group meetings, but only at the lowest level.

Recording a group's work on a flip chart, or whiteboard, is a small step in this direction, but to take this to the next level (to the genius level!), you need to get more visual.

Drawing Solutions

Have members of a group draw their solutions to a problem, or draw the results of implementing their solution. If you want to look at a variety of solutions at once, have subgroups do this for different scenarios.

Focus the group(s) on making it visual and inclusive of their whole idea.

The goal is to communicate not wow the group with artistic abilities. Once the groups have completed their drawings, review all of them to see if new ideas or combinations of ideas are found.

Opposites Attract

Geniuses think in opposites.

Often it is very revealing to examine the opposite of your situation or ask the opposite question.

Rather than having the group ask the direct question on their task, have them ask the opposite.

For example, if the question is,

"How do we attract new Customers?"

more new ideas and insights might come from asking

"How could we drive all of our Customers away?"

With the answers to the opposite question, tactics and plans for avoiding this outcome can be developed.

Use Metaphors

Geniuses think metaphorically.

Aristotle believed that metaphors were a sign of genius. If they were good enough for Aristotle, they should be good enough for us!

Have the group compare their situation to anything else (another place for your list mentioned above).

The more metaphors (or analogies) the group can draw between their situation and these random items the better.

The insights will flow from the discussion of these connections. You can also ask the group to tell you what they might compare the situation to, which is another method of initiating the metaphors.

Take A Chance

Geniuses prepare themselves for chance.

In a group situation, this most likely fits after a solution has been implemented.

This "preparation for chance" will be enhanced by the willingness to do two things: admit mistakes, and spend time reviewing the results of the decision or solution.