Dear John > One of the conditions I find most influencing in creative groups is the > presence of trust between the members. It appears that when the members > trust and respect each other there is a greater likelihood that they will > allow themselves to let go with freethoughts without fearing that their > colleagues will shoot them down. I agree. That is a condition for free communications, but I don't think we should confuse liking each other with trust. I have seen groups whose members actively disliked each other while jointly created solutions to problems they had never encountered before week after week. > Another condition seems to be the sense > of importance of the issue or goal to be reached. When the members feel > that a goal is very significant and of personal importance their desire > to find an answer pushes them to seek new ways toward resolution. Yex, this is what I ment by NEEDING to be creative. The condition of time pressure also seems to contribute to creativity. (I also think no time presure can be a condition.) In the time pressure situation, having the capacity to look at the problem, indirectly seems to help. I may be taking the group's mind off the problem after it has focused on it for a while helps. This is like, not being able to remember something, talking about something else and suddenly you remember. > I've > noticed also, in brainstorming groups, that one or two creative leaders > arise and suggest interesting and strange ideas and this seems to trigger > others to come out with more ideas. Yes also, but I am not sure they are necessarily creative leaders. Sometimes someone quite unintentionally makes an off the wall remark when taken seriously triggers whole new ways of thinking. [630 lines left ... full text available at <url:http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/go?choice=message&table=04_1997&mid=3720149&hilit=ART+TELECONFERENCING> ] ---------------------------------- Received: from shadowfax.reference.com by netbase.t0.or.at via ESMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/940406.SGI.AUTO) Article-ID: 04_1997&3871490 Score: 78 Subject: Re: internet "phone" for 2.1.x