Brainstorming, influence, and icebergs [project management]

Brainstorming done right is an exhilarating, exhausting process. The personnel mix in a brainstorming group is crucial. Ideally, the group includes at least one and at most two "idea fountain" types, the kind of people whose brains automatically generate 10 ideas for every one being discussed. The group also should include at least one person who strongly wants useful results out of the session, such as the team leader or an architect looking for a solution to a particularly vexing problem. One team member should be someone who has the mental horsepower to keep pace with the intellectual sprinters but is willing to stay half a step behind them during the session to help spot strengths and weaknesses in the ideas they are volleying back and forth. This person subtly helps direct the group's energies toward the most promising ideas, after enough time has been spent generating them.