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Revision as of 19:28, 24 January 2014
Teampedia reviews of books and articles, interviews with people experienced in team building, and other items of interest.
Please let us know if you have suggestions for features.
Contents
Group Brainstorming - a Bad Idea?
A Teampedia review by jana z of the article by Jonah Lehrer in the New Yorker, January 30, 2012: “Groupthink, The brainstorming myth,”
In the 1940’s book “Your Creative Power,” a partner in a Madison Avenue advertising agency revealed what he considered his company’s central secret to innovation and success: the group “brainstorm.” He said that “using the brain to storm a creative problem . . . in commando fashion, with each stormer attacking the same objective” brings about the most and best ideas possible.
The group exercise he promoted, which stipulated that each idea must meet no criticism, became the most widely used creativity technique worldwide. It is still used in many corporate and academic settings.
But, according to scientific research cited in that New Yorker article, brainstorming does not work very well. Lehrer discusses other approaches that are considered successful for stimulating creativity in a group. One famous example was “Building 20,” a location in which a conglomeration of offices and shops were in close physical proximity. In it, diverse people involved in various fields found that their ongoing, unplanned mingling was key to stimulating creativity and productivity.
See Teampedia braintorming activities and Group Brainstorming - A Bad Idea?
What have your experiences been with group brainstorming? Is it successful for your team? Have you found ways to make group brainstorming worthwhile?
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Team Building Globally, Serving Locally
Each year since 2008, thousands of Google employees have teamed up to serve their communities as part of GoogleServe, an employee-driven initiative organized almost entirely by volunteers. Through partnerships with nonprofits and schools, Googlers from over 100 cities in over 35 countries help communities in need with projects ranging from educating youth about online bullying to cleaning up local rivers and parks. In 2013, more than 8,500 Googlers participated in 500 projects.
"Giving back to our communities strengthens our connections with the places in which we live and work. And it also brings us closer together as a global team," says Seth Marbin, GoogleServe's founder and original Global Leader [Marbin is also the founder and lead of Teampedia]. Each year the event has grown in size and scope.
Examples of GoogleServe projects:
- In New York, Googlers led resume writing workshops and provided career coaching to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America members seeking employment.
- Googlers helped Mountaineering Ireland construct drains in order to maintain a stretch of trail along the Dublin Mountains Way.
- Googlers facilitated a strategic planning session for staff from the Post Prison Education Program in Seattle.
- Googlers conducted an online tools workshop for NGOs in Singapore with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.
- Googlers fixed up bikes with Free Ride in Pittsburgh; the bikes were donated to local nonprofits and residents.
- At the Punjabi Bagh Central Market area in West Delhi, Googlers cleaned and removed old, decayed posters with the help of “Lets do it Delhi,” an organization which has taken up the initiative to minimize abuse of public property.
GoogleServe projects are planned and coordinated by a core team of employees, and the company provides transportation, meals, materials, and equipment for all Googlers who choose to participate in projects of their choice, on company time. GoogleServe is the company's annual week of focus on volunteer efforts, yet service is encouraged year round through programs which include 20 hours of work time annually for any individual to volunteer with an approved charitable organization.
Googlers share in a variety of other team building opportunities. Celebrations include retreats at Disneyland, fairs for the children of employees, and formal adult parties. Staff can join together onsite for meditation and yoga classes, hear inspirational speakers, and participate in life-enriching trainings.
Yet GoogleServe builds the team spirit in a special way. "I'm painting a senior center in my town, interacting in a new way with folks I sit near Monday through Friday, and meeting some I've never met who work in a different Google building," said one Googler. "And while I'm spilling paint on my GoogleServe t-shirt, I know that around the world, Googlers wearing the same shirt are shoveling debris, or teaching a teen, or fixing a wagon. We're all helping out together. I like the feeling."
Read more about GoogleServe:
- http://www.google.com/giving/community/
- http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/googleserve-2013-giving-back-on-global.html
- http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/googleserve-2012-more-skills-based.html
- http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/googleserve-2011-giving-back-around.html
- http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/googleserve-2010-celebrating-community.html
- http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/googleserve-thinking-globally-and.html
--jana.zvibleman (talk) 10:11, 20 November 2013 (PST) --
AmeriCorps Alum
How service organizations inspired the creation of Teampedia.
Do Good
Brown University Alumni Magazine features Teampedia's founder.