Uma ferramenta que sempre utilizei em divergências de opiniões, que acabam gerando conflitos de colaboração foi procurar listar em um quadro branco um bloco do que de fato todos tínhamos em acordos comuns do tema. Depois em outro bloco as discordâncias. Nelas os motivos pelos quais discordávamos. As razões das discórdias tinham fundamento de ter orais ou experiencias passadas? Bom, com isso, iniciávamos um processo de trocas e discussões em grupo, e, naturalmente as pessoas passavam a contribuir uma com as outras, sem perceberem! O bacana era ver em minutos, um ajudando ao outro e contribuindo positivamente o que estava veemente contra!. A gente passava de modo “julgamento” para modo “aprendizado” isso foi transformador!

I put on Fleetwood Mac Rumours and remind everyone that at odds is sometimes the point. Then I ask if they want sushi or tacos and leave the room

Passion is good but there always needs to be a ringmaster to ensure that the circus doesn't get out of hand. Being disparaging of someone's ideas is not ok - it has to be a build, as in 'I don't think that will work because...' And the person leading the brainstorm has to be ready to interject and ask someone who may be dominating a meeting to stop and hear what others have to say, and actively call on quiet participants to ask for the thoughts. If I know that there will be a mix of personalities I find that a 'silent' brainstorm can be effective - give everyone a time limit to write something down on paper, pass it along and for the next two minutes get the next person to write something that was a build on the original thought.

Brainstorming, além de ser uma ótima ferramenta aplicável resoluçao de problemas e ou novas idéias. Se há respeito entre os participantes durante o Brainstorming isso não deverá ocorrer. Há idéias tolas para o contexto, aos olhos do outro sim, porém, respeito acima de tudo. Obviamente nenhum participante daria idéias esdrúxulas fora do contexto. O intermediador, o lider ou seja lá o responsável pela reunião deverá ter a capacidade de resolver o conflito com diálogo.

You know, I used to think that brainstorming sessions should be all sunshine and rainbows, but I've learned that a little conflict can actually be a good thing. It forces everyone to think outside the box and come up with more creative solutions. So, the when my team starts to disagree, I generally let them go for it. While i make sure everyone feels heard and respected, even if their ideas seem a bit out there. Diverging thoughts are like sparks that can ignite a fire of creativity. And who knows? Maybe from all that clashing, we'll come up with something truly amazing.

Brainstorms are really only effective if they are structured. I’ve found after conducting probably close to a thousand ideation sessions that there needs to be three phases to ideation. 1. Going broad with a ‘Yes, and’ mentality while limiting critique to generate a large volume of ideas. 2. Working as a group to combine and consolidate ideas into territories that the group has aligned on as a whole. 3. Evaluating, critiquing and killing ideas that don’t work as a group. If you follow this process it separates the contribution from the individual removing ego and essentially limiting conflict.

From my perspective, conflict can be the best catalyst during a brainstorming session because diverging ideas often spark deeper conversations and encourage the team to consider various angles. Just as great stories in movies are built on conflict, so too can great ideas emerge from it. When my team is at odds during brainstorming, I make sure the disagreements don't become personal. I moderate the session to keep everyone focused on the ideas rather than who proposed them. Even if the ideas diverge significantly, we end up with a wide spectrum of possibilities. This allows us to find common ground and decide collectively on the best path forward.