Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In

by Roger Fisher

Before brainstorming: 1. Define your purpose. Think of what you would like to walk out of the meeting with. 2. Choose a few participants. The group should normally be large enough to provide a stimulating interchange, yet small enough to encourage both individual participation and free-wheeling inventing—usually between five and eight people. 3. Change the environment. Select a time and place distinguishing the session as much as possible from regular discussions. The more different a brainstorming session seems from a normal meeting, the easier it is for participants to suspend judgment. 4. Design an informal atmosphere. What does it take for you and others to relax? It may be talking over a drink, or meeting at a vacation lodge in some picturesque spot, or dressing less formally during the meeting and calling one another by your first names. 5. Choose a facilitator. Someone at the meeting needs to facilitate—to keep the meeting on track, to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak, to enforce any ground rules, and to stimulate discussion by asking questions.