when brainstorming
for some people it's the only rule: "no critique"
but
as long as
you're making a system
to be shared, trusted, independent of any one participant, internally interesting
the structure of ideation critique can be more valuable than the ideas.
caveat! we are often a thoughtlessly critical culture.
walk slow while asking questions.
if you don't have anything nice to say,
ask where they think the idea came from, or is headed.
good ideas in a bad critique structure get made for the wrong reason,
and lose their way later during development
bad ideas in a good structure cause frustration,
but participants will do better the next time
critique as a process of convergence/divergence
critique as a method for finding consensus
(consensus often happens naturally if everyone gets to share their piece)
and always:
critique as a method of lowering barriers, not of raising them