Page 231 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

214 Chapter 8

2. Try brainstorming and other creativity-enhancing techniques.
Brainstorming not only requires deferred judgment, but it also encourages
members to be playful with ideas. Brainstorming and other techniques
temporarily disable the logical part of the mind so that the creative mind can
emerge.
3. Encourage the group to search for more alternatives.
When no one seems to be able to think of any more ideas, you can ask an
idea-spurring question: “What else can we think of to . . .?” or “I wonder if we
can think of five more ways to . . .?” Often, the most creative ideas are ones that
pop up after the group thinks it has exhausted its possibilities.
4. Be alert to suggestions that open up new areas of thinking; then pose a general
question about the new area.
For example, if someone suggests putting up posters in the library that show
users how much theft costs them, you might ask, “How else could we publicize
the costs of theft to the library?”

Stimulating Critical Thinking After a group has done its creative thinking, it must
then subject the various options to rigorous evaluation before it reaches a final posi-
tion. Sometimes groups develop norms of politeness that make this impossible. Here
are ways to encourage good critical evaluation:

1. If the group gets solution-minded too quickly, suggest more analysis of the
problem.
Groups typically jump right to discussing solutions too early, which becomes a
major source of faulty decision making. Chapter 10 presents a systematic
method for helping a group focus on problem analysis.
2. Encourage members to evaluate information.
For example:
a. To check the relevance of evidence, ask: “How does this apply to our
problem?” or “How is that like the situation we are discussing?”
b. To evaluate the source of evidence, ask: “What is the source of that
information?” “How well is Dr. So-and-So recognized in the field?” or “Is
this consistent with other information on the subject?”
c. To check on the credibility of information, ask: “Do we have any information
that is contradictory?”
d. To encourage thorough assessment of a group member’s suggestion, ask:
“How will implementing that solve our problem?” or “How will the students
(union members, secretaries, neighborhood residents, etc.) react to that
suggestion?”
e. To test a statistic, ask how it was derived, who conducted the study, or how
an average was computed.
f. Bring in outside experts to challenge the views of the group.

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