Thinking Aloud!!

(Via Innovation Weblog) In his excellent brainstorming book, Five Star Mind, author Tom Wujec includes a page on the benefits of thinking aloud. Many of us are deeply scripted in the mindset of the lone entrepreneur, dreaming up breakthrough ideas. But the fact is that having a conversation with someone else is a terrific way to bring new thoughts to life:
"Conversations give us a chance to refine ideas of which we previously had only a vague concept… We clarify ideas by putting them into words. When we pass ideas back and forth (in a conversation), we create a rhythm in which one remark stimulates another. An off-hand comment prompts a distant memory. Conversations divide and unite unrelated concepts into relevant thoughts. Dialogues become collaborations, a concert of thought, the creation of a common understanding."
Wujec also cautions that conversations can kill ideas, especially when a lack of symmetry exists between you and another person – such as if the other person is more powerful or is carrying a hidden agenda. He also points out that when we stop listening, we lose the ability to learn. Metaphor, games, quizzes characterize the whole book is set as a CREATIVE recipe with distinct flavours..