Troubles with Brainstorming

This bachelor's thesis examines brainstorming as a method of group idea generation, with a particular focus on its limitations and the factors that influence its course and effectiveness. The aim of the thesis was to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of brainstorming, to describe the most used forms, and to evaluate how employees perceive this method in practice. The theoretical part outlines the history and origins of brainstorming, its core principles and variants, and addresses the criticism of the method in academic literature, particularly the phenomena of production blocking, social loafing, and evaluation apprehension. The empirical part combines a quantitative questionnaire survey (30 respondents) and qualitative semi-structured interviews (7 architects). The results show that classical group brainstorming clearly predominates in practice, and that respondents generally evaluate this method positively, despite the more critical conclusions found in academic literature. The most important factors contributing to successful brainstorming were identified as group atmosphere and team composition. The most frequently identified limitations include the dominance of assertive individuals, low participation by some attendees, and weak facilitation of the discussion.