Reading

Better Brainstorming from Harvard Business Review

• “Brainstorming for questions, not answers”
• Question burst - “Underlying the approach is a broader recognition that fresh questions often beget novel—even transformative—insights.”
  • “Brainstorming for questions rather than answers makes it easier to push past cognitive biases and venture into uncharted territory.”
    • “a process for recasting problems”
    • gives sense of control
    • more creative habit of thinking
• the process

1. Set the stage: choose a challenge

   1. makes your heart beat fast, convey high level challenge
   2. invite 2-3 people who have no experience with the problem - “when you ask others to participate, you’re making yourself vulnerable by sharing the problem — but you’re also summoning empathy”
   3. combats social loafing and social anxiety that is found in traditional brainstorming and can create a safe space for everyone.
   4. rules:
      1. questions only
      2. no preambles or justifications that frame a question
   5. emotion check
   6. Not all questions are created equal
      1. utilize traditional lateral thinking techniques
      2. open questions
      3. descriptive questions
      4. complex rather than simple questions
      5. avoid irrelevant questions
      6. be cautious of agressive questions

2. Brainstorm the questions

   1. 4 min timer
      1. moderate performance pressures can enhance creative output
   2. don’t allow pushback
   3. the more surprising and provocative the questions the better
   4. emphasize quantity
   5. write them down
   6. use many question bursts to reshape and refine
   7. end with emotion check
      1. better when positive emotional state

3. identify a quest and commit to it

   1. 80% of the time exercise produces one question tha reframes probelm and provides no agle
   2. 5 whys
      1. why is it important/ meaningful
      2. why is it important… etc.
   3. commit to one new pathway as a “truth seeker”
      1. don’t worry about implementation or comfort

4. how can we make it a habit

   1. 3 rounds per challenge at least
   2. people have been conditioned to not ask questions
      1. “questingin is an innate human behavior that is actively subverted and systemically shut down
      2. in power struggles - people silence questions
   3. In a recent interview he said: “When you’re a student, you’re judged by how well you answer questions. Somebody else asks the questions, and if you give good answers, you’ll get a good grade. But in life, you’re judged by how good your questions are.” - Robert Langer
   4. leaders should show humility, vulnerability and trust

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   Class Notes

   • Share solo brainstorm: Each student shares their ideas from the solo brainstorm (either verbally or writing them down on a whiteboard) and discuss the possibilities as a team. As students discuss their solutions, details become more concrete and start to consider how to approach the prototyping stage for each idea.

     • ideas for preventing bike theft
       • map of stolen bike reports
       • reporting stolen bikes
       • temporary bikes to get around
       • electronic bike racks
       • scooter racks
       • CCTV
     • loneliness
       • notifications for friends in the dining hall
       • sectioning off dining hall
       • “confession pods”
     • As ideas transfer from students’ minds to team discussion, new questions pop up: many pertaining to the next steps for a particular idea. Do we design a system or a smaller solution? How do we scope this project to prototype in the next couple of weeks?

   • After sharing out ideas students created Idea Dashboards to communicate their idea in a couple of simple, direct sentences. The idea Dashboards acts as a grounding point and is a quick exercise that helps students gain clarity on their idea before prototyping. Idea Dashboard: Capture and flesh out your idea.

     • What is it?
     • How does it work?
     • Why is it important to your user?

     Tech we want

     1.governance

     • move away from lone genius history of tech
     • reframing the idea of the history of tech
       • most important part is that people are involved
       • Teaser trailer - can we catch the vibe in a video
     • what do we need to seed on the tech timeline to get people to participate in a meaningful way
       • need to see the timeline in a way that will make other people excited
       • need editorial lens
       • students take a look at timelien and prompts
       • notice that people interact with timeline differently when there are people’s stories written on it
     • The timeline
       • a database
       • a physical timeline
       • a digital experience
       • a multi-media interactive installation
       • a facilitation tool
     • core values
       • accessible is more important than interactive
       • building for people who spend no time thinking about tech ethics
       • build mobile first and open source
     • If magic
       • rapid prototyping tool for digital and physical emodiment
         • engage the senses
         • transcends current interfaces
         • accessible and communal
       • what are the inputs and outputs
       • goal is to not break the creative flow
         • no arduino
         • no coding
         • open database
     • class activity - what is potential next generation experience that is interactive and adds to digital archive