Many people have come out against brainstorming. Here’s a McKinsey article suggesting that better brainstorming outcomes come from better questions. The bias buster series is worth a look if you’re trying to improve the outcomes of your meetings and offsites.
Also, visit the rest of my Offsites and meetings tagged posts or this post on Strategy Tools that may be useful.
It’s all about perspective – we find what we look for. Here’s Austin Kleon talking about that.