On the Ineffectiveness of Group Brainstorming

A link passed to me by a colleague to a very interesting article on the ineffectiveness of group brainstorming. I received my training about brainstorming in about day 5 of my employment,  and always wondered about how really valuable it was. I have seen sessions where the results were driven inappropriately by management. Like focus groups its value depends very much upon who the facilitator is, and the aims of the people you participate with:

" ... So you need some fresh, innovative ideas. What do you do? Get a group of your best thinkers together to bounce ideas of each other…? No, wrong answer. Time and again research has shown that people think of more new ideas on their own than they do in a group. The false belief that people are more creative in groups has been dubbed by psychologists the ‘illusion of group of productivity” ... Bernard Nijstad and colleagues at the University of Amsterdam argue it’s because when we’re in a group, other people are talking, the pressure isn’t always on us and so we’re less aware of all the times that we fail to think of a new idea. By contrast, when we’re working alone and we can’t think of anything, there’s no avoiding the fact that we’re failing...."

Comments

[EQ2 Gold]

There seems to be trend that results of unqualified researches spread across the net with light speed. These "psychologists" assume that creativity comes from pressure. Sometime probably it is right, sometimes wrong. In the second place it seems very unrealistic that "feel of failing to make proper decision" becomes blunt while working in group. From my experience i can say that it is nowhere true. I would ever say that fear of failing motivates more in group.
I agree with you, these researches should research effectiveness of project facilitators in the first place. as long as group memebers are going to sleep during brainstorming session, it is failure of organization, not method. Brainstorming doesnt suppose creative thinking in sleep. Generally speaking, these guys simplify things. Researches in modern world are similar to medieval mysticism. Everyone just want to approve/disapprove something manipulating research methods to get publicity. Any manager of sound mind can say that brainstorming is very effective tool in many cases. Sorry for biliousness

[JZ]

I suggest doing it with friends and with friends of friends or with people who have gone to the same event who are interested in new ideas or helping build more contacts and feedback for their own agenda...seeing how agendas intermesh is what I have been experiencing with productivity in a 'social-business' format held in apartments here in NYC. Then keeping in touch thru email swapping links, books, pieces of info, etc relevant to what we are up to.

Plus I think there is a lack of creative thinking in experimenting with group gatherings so then we end up with pessimistic views of group sessions due to the formatting not the gathering itself.

[mythos]

I'd like to say that personality type has an influential role also and that a regimented structure can kill creativity quickly, silently... In brainstorming sessions my mind shuts off to a degree and then elements of what is being said filter in..somehow in the jumble of experience and imagination, solutions become apparent.

I'd love to see a brainstorming net, where issues (problems) are posited and the rest of the world is invited to provide solutions. The likelyhood of implementation and compensation will attract a lot of input.[see: www.halfbakery.com]

The semantic tools are becoming available to sort through a flood of inputs to determine relevance.

I'd like to also suggest that a little more courage would be nice to see. So often the presumed limitations allow rejection of truly elegant solutions. "We didn't want to change the business model, we just wanted to choose a color for the stationery." etc.

[Russell Miyaki]

Unlike brainstorming, there is a need to inject innovation, motivation, energy, excitement and fun into the process of problem solving. A method of thinking that flips assumptions and challenges the status quo. A method that produces five times the number of ideas than ordinary brainstorming. A method that explores ideas that may have never been thought of before.

There are many great thinking coaches out there, as well as numerous books on creative thinking. The challenge is that a lot of companies tend to think of "brainstorming" as a functional skill that every employee should possess: "It's a given, so we shouldn't invest any time or money into the process. Just solve my problem." But the process of problem solving is a direct reflection of the end result. In fact, it is one of the components that drives company cultures.

There are many names given to alternative thinking processes. The names are new, but the techniques have been around for decades. What really matters is to first understand the importance of the process, and that brainstorming is a skill that can be inhanced, progressed, and measured.

I use the word “Ideation” simply because its definition captures the meaning and spirit of alternative thinking the closest.