Sleep On It: to make better decisions

Brainstorming, a process to create utter chaos and then end up in a rabbit hole. "Most ideas are dumb," says Steven Wille at MileHi PMI. Even though you bravely opened the floodgates of discussion, did groupthink control the direction of the conversation? Did you capture the rational, quiet thoughts of your brightest teammates or were they overshadowed by the mob?

Steven told us how we can reap the collective intelligence to discover the best solutions to the most difficult decisions facing the company. Describing in detail the democratic process how honeybees choose a new home and the resulting vote (expressed as an enthusiastic dance) free from polictics and bias.

In a final demonstration, in groups of twenty working on an assignment, he uncovered the quietest voice who had the most to say. She said we cannot do this exercise without more requirements and preceded to tell Mr. Wille what parameters were needed.

To make the best individual or group decisions, sleep on it, and get back to us in the morning with a fresh perspective and ideas that wouldn't otherwise appear in the heat of the moment.

Steven Wille, author of Colorful Leadership and see his interview on YouTube.