We recently had a brainstorming session here at CPR and, not only was it really fun, we generated some good ideas. Despite its popularity, however, when I started researching this blog I found that many people find brainstorming to be a frustrating and fruitless process that fails to get the team’s creative juices flowing. The more I researched, the more I realized that the reason some people find brainstorming unproductive isn’t because brainstorming itself is ineffective, it’s because the method being used is.
Scientists have been studying idea generation for decades and have found that, in terms of generating original ideas, individuals perform better. Where the group really comes into play is evaluating and building on those initial thoughts. This deviates from the traditional brainstorming layout where you get a group of people together, present a problem, generate as many ideas and solutions as possible, don’t criticize initially, and build on the ideas that others throw out.
But traditional brainstorming can lead to a bigger problem – an idea called groupthink. Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that happens when a large group of people decide to follow an idea, not because it is the best idea, but because it’s the most popular and they want to fit in. This goes hand-in-hand with another phenomenon that can happen during a brainstorm – idea convergence. This is when someone shares their idea and it affects the memory of the entire group to make them look at the problem through that same lens, cutting down on outside-the-box thinking that is the fuel for a good brainstorm. These phenomena combined generally mean that the more extroverted participants in the brainstorm will shout out an idea early on that the group can’t shake, even if it isn’t the optimal solution.
Luckily, these are easy to combat by simply having each one of the participants spend time generating ideas alone before going into the brainstorm. If everyone comes to the meeting with a list of as many ideas as possible, no matter how crazy, and presents them during the brainstorm, it will allow for more ideas to be shared and avoid early idea convergence. Then the team can work to build off each original idea until they find the best option. It might seem counter-intuitive, but the best way to work together is to work alone (at least at the beginning).
There are a lot of different ways you can implement this idea of combined individual and group work. One example is the stepladder technique. The topic or problem is presented to the entire group, then everyone leaves the room except for two people. They discuss the problem and attempt to arrive at a solution. After an allotted amount of time, a third person enters the room, and shares his or her ideas on the topic before the original pair shares their ideas. This continues until each member has rejoined the discussion and presented their individual thoughts.
Another popular method is the 6-3-5 method. This has six individuals sit in a room and write down three ideas around the topic and then they pass their ideas to the right and build off the ideas passed to them. After five rounds, everyone in the group has had a chance to see each original idea and add their input, and the group then gets together to evaluate each idea.
Both of these methods will lead to better brainstorming, but there are tons of other ways to do it. It is all about finding the right method for you and your team.
Once the pesky issue of stifled creativity is out of the way, brainstorming sessions can have a lot of benefits. It allows you to collect different viewpoints, encourages critical thinking, build up your team, and it can be a lot of fun! It is a great way to break up hours of individual labor and work together in a creative environment. Combining individual and group work is the best way to ensure that your brainstorming session is both successful and effective.
If you’d like to check out some additional articles on brainstorming, here are some great options:
• Five Tips for Effective Brainstorming
• 10 Longtime Brainstorming Techniques that Still Work
• Your Team Is Brainstorming All Wrong