More recently, thoughtful people have begun to wonder if that resource can be used in a deliberate way to produce valuable, on-demand insights and solve intractable problems. On a professional level, there are several strict rules designed to spur that free-association or brainstorming process. A group is assembled. The leader is selected from outside the group and sets forth the problem at hand. The group numbers no more than 10 people.
All members are peers, with no bosses or subordinates.
The goal is set in terms of the number of ideas that must be produced. The object is quantity, not quality. Tangent ideas are followed wherever they lead. Authorship of any given idea is kept confidential. There are absolutely no critical comments allowed.