Let's say you wanted to make a new product and needed the best design possible. The solution would be to make the idea process collaborative but competitive. All ideas are open to improvement from anyone, not just the original creator, this goes on until the idea can't be improved upon anymore. Once you improve the idea you have to explain why you think your idea is an improvement. The prize goes to the peak idea. If an improvement is not an improvement, it can be taken down a peg or two. This turns otherwise chaotic team dynamics into a way for progress to still happen.
Generates a few but finely sharpened ideas.
Opens the floor up for people with no experience in the subject.
There's an incentive to not be outdone on your own idea so people will automatically improve their own ideas.
Channels ideas from other avenues into a single one
Since the idea is improvement not generation, Everyone already knows the eventual desired outcome. Everyone is working on the same goal from the word go.
Hold my beer is a phrase used on the internet as sort of notice that you are about to do something cool or awesome. It is followed up by other people saying the same phrase and trying to outdo the original action. If chanelled right, you could impart finetuning concepts with the same drive as competetive sports.
Why I think it could work
I was at a gathering where someone couldn't get their car to start and there was no mechanic at hand, but by everyone just trying to one-up each other's knowledge on cars they ended up unknowingly collaborating to find a solution to the problem. It was pretty interesting to watch.
Please leave the feedback on this idea