Workshop questions not ideas. Brainstorming ideas can be counterproductive. But brainstorming open questions together can be very rewarding.
There can be pre-workshop homework of trying to come up with some ideas for the questions, and a follow-up workshop where we share the ideas!
This will give people time and perspective to work on the different questions.
Look to explore problems first, then solutions. Don’t just jump to the answers. They will be sub-optimal.
We need to navigate the sea of the problem space first. Then we can try to anchor. If we anchor to soon we might altoghether miss a favourable bay through the sound.
Vaguely related The Collaboration Paradox: Why Working Together Often Yields Weaker Results ‘The lesson: Use meeting time to exchange ideas, not generate them.’