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|| personal development | IDEAS AND GOALS
• Don’t be afraid of anyone or anything. There are
no bosses or subordinates on the team, and nobody is
going to laugh at you. Evaluations, arguments, and criti-
cism are forbidden until the best ideas are discussed, and
then you can put in your own two cents’ worth.
• You may speak many times, but no more than
one or two minutes at a time.
• The number of ideas at a brainstorming session
is more important than their quality.
• Rather than trying to demonstrate how much you
know, try to solve the problem.
• Development of your own and others’ ideas is al-
lowed and welcomed.
• Don’t distract others while they are working,
don’t whisper back and forth, don’t exchange glances,
and especially don’t make ironic comments.
• An idea is discussed and criticized according to
the following criteria:
—its accordance with premises and initial require-
ments;
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—the possibility of its implementation;
—whether it can be effected immediately or requires
time, and if so, how much;
—will actualization of an idea require monetary expen-
ditures, and if so, how much; and
—whether the idea is applicable to some other sphere
of activity.
• All remarks by participants in the brainstorming
are presented briefly and substantiated.
Sometimes, if the team members have insufficient
knowledge of the problem, the ranking and criticism stages
are set aside, and specialists are invited to evaluate the
ideas that have been expressed. Five to seven experts
would be typical. It’s considered normal if they decline nine
out of ten of the ideas suggested; however, the remaining
ones are used for analysis, discussion, and development
of a proposal for solving a tricky problem or implementing
a business task.