Today I led a discussion on a technical topic of great mutual interest. There were a tremendous number of great ideas.
We started a Google doc, and everybody wrote down their thoughts. In the end, the number of wonderful original ideas greatly exceeded my expectations.
I think the key for me, as the discussion leader, was to give everybody space to take ownership of their train of thought. That wasn’t always easy, since my natural tendency is to jump in a say “Yes, but what about this?”
Somehow I managed to mostly repress that tendency, and the results were very positive. It turns out that the most difficult thing to do when you are leading a discussion is also the most productive: Just shut up and listen.