> talking through every possible objection to an idea is how you can tell that people are starting to zero in on it as the most likely best solution. The closer an idea gets to acceptance, the more thoroughly you vet it. The more it becomes clear that an idea is the best way forward, the more you start to prepare for dealing with the reality of it.
Sounds a lot like the Braintrust described in the book "Creativity, Inc." which was accredited with a large portion of the credit for Pixar's success.
> This makes practical sense, but not political sense
The book says that to create the kind of environment that a Braintrust can function in takes a deal of care and one thing was all politics needed to be removed. Great book though highly recommend it.
Not just politics, everyone has to be actively engaged with the process because it runs contrary to instincts.
One time I saw a room full of zoned out world-class scientists do this exact thing: reject the heavily vetted good option and accept the bad alternative because in the back of their heads they were just counting up positive attention and negative attention. The leader of the group realized what was going on, swung the conversation around again, re-framed things on more even footing, and people came to their senses.
Still, it was a pretty stark reminder that we're all human and prone to misusing the "attention survey" shortcut if the group is even slightly disengaged.
Put a lawyer in the mix and everyone loses their minds. No offense to lawyers, they’re just doing their job, but I’ve seen the group pick the absolute worst option over and over because a lawyer mentioned maybe something might be possibly questionable. When debriefed after shipping the lawyer couldn’t understand why no one pushed back.
Sounds a lot like the Braintrust described in the book "Creativity, Inc." which was accredited with a large portion of the credit for Pixar's success.
> This makes practical sense, but not political sense
The book says that to create the kind of environment that a Braintrust can function in takes a deal of care and one thing was all politics needed to be removed. Great book though highly recommend it.