A Mastermind is a peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members. The concept was coined as “mastermind alliance” in 1925 by author Napoleon Hill in his book The Law of Success.
A Mastermind group is similar to a company`s board of directors with the difference that there are no interests involved, no hierarchy, no strings attached so all members are free to express their unbiased opinion.
Also, Mastermind groups tend to be more successful the more the professional and cultural background of the participants is varied as it becomes a unique opportunity to obtain opinions from different perspectives.
Even before Napoleon Hill systematized the concept, cultivating/belonging to a mastermind group was already deeply rooted in the American business culture and most of the American Presidents, scientists, company tycoons including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, Charles M. Schwab, and others were fervent preachers of using this tool for brainstorming and decision making.