I think the disagreement was on a slightly different axis. It’s not enough to hold off on proposing solutions. It’s particular flavors and approaches to doing so.
One thing (which me-at-the-beginning-of-the-example would have liked), is that we do some sort of process like:
Everyone thinks independently for N minutes about what considerations are relevant, without proposing solutions
Everyone shares those thoughts, and discusses them a while
Everyone thinks independently for another N minutes about potential solutions in light of those considerations.
We discuss those thoughts
We eventually try to converge on a solution.
...with each section being somewhat time-boxed (You could fine-tune the time boxing, possibly repeating some steps, depending on how important the decision was and how much time you had)
But something about the overall process of time-boxing intrinsically got in the way of the type of thinking that this person felt they needed.
I think the disagreement was on a slightly different axis. It’s not enough to hold off on proposing solutions. It’s particular flavors and approaches to doing so.
One thing (which me-at-the-beginning-of-the-example would have liked), is that we do some sort of process like:
Everyone thinks independently for N minutes about what considerations are relevant, without proposing solutions
Everyone shares those thoughts, and discusses them a while
Everyone thinks independently for another N minutes about potential solutions in light of those considerations.
We discuss those thoughts
We eventually try to converge on a solution.
...with each section being somewhat time-boxed (You could fine-tune the time boxing, possibly repeating some steps, depending on how important the decision was and how much time you had)
But something about the overall process of time-boxing intrinsically got in the way of the type of thinking that this person felt they needed.