“Let’s start by brainstorming.” “First we are going to brainstorm to get all the ideas out on the table.” “In brainstorming, there are no bad ideas–we are just going to get the ideas out there without comment, discussion or judgement.” Brainstorming–a long used tool, to generate new ideas without critique, judgement or filtering, has been around since the 40s when it was first introduced by Alex Osborn one of the founders of BBDO, the iconic ad agency.
Despite the assumption that brainstorming is a valuable tool for generating ideas, research suggests that it actually diminishes idea generation. What happens in brainstorming is that when one person is talking you’re not thinking of your own ideas, rather you are already beginning to assimilate others’ ideas–a process called anchoring. To make matters worse, in an average 6 person meeting, 2 people do 60+ percent of the talking, and across a wide variety of group sizes, only a few dominate 60-70 percent of the conversations. Therefore, the anchoring taking place–where early ideas disproportionately influence future ideas–is problematic for two reasons. First, these powerful anchor ideas are only provided by a small minority, and second, the ideas tend to be the least creative, as they are the first and often least thought out.
John Lehrer, the author of a long, but excellent article in the New Yorker on Groupthink, cites a study from the 1950s that asks two test groups to solve a complex puzzle. The test group in which individuals worked alone, generated twice as many ideas as those that worked in groups. The other problem with brainstorming, beyond anchoring is the fundamental mandate to avoid criticism. Innovations and innovative ideas typically emerge when someone identifies a problem. Allowing criticism of solutions (to these problems) while brainstorming, allows people to explore and refine the solutions while adding more complexity to the understanding of the problem. Criticism doesn’t hinder creativity, it gives people more information and ideas to work with and ultimately the ability to create better solutions.
The final problem with brainstorming is that it typically focuses on solutions rather than on understanding the problem. As Einstein once said, “If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution.”
Brainwriting
An alternative to brainstorming is Brainwriting, a tool that has gained some popularity in recent years. Brainwriting, unlike, brainstorming, separates idea generation from idea discussion. While there are several forms of brainwriting, the common strategy is to have individuals generate ideas by themselves–either before or during the meeting–and then post all the ideas for everyone to see, before anyone begins to talk. Leigh Thompson, a management professor at the Kellogg School, suggests that in the brainwriting process, once all ideas are up, “then everyone votes on the best ones. It should be a meritocracy of ideas….It’s not a popularity contest…Only after that do people talk.”
Thompson’s research results are striking. Brainwriting produces over 20% more ideas and greater than 42% more original ideas than brainstorming.
ProblemStorming™
To better define the problem we need to shift the brainstorming process from focusing on the solution to understanding the problem. ProblemStorming™ starts with looking at the problem and not the solution.
In ProblemStorming™ you start with the problem and not the solution, with questions not answers. As with brainstorming, people tend to come up with more ideas individually (initially), so start the ProblemStorming™ process alone and then build on each others ideas for questions. It is often helpful to think of questions in 3 stages:
- What Questions–Focus on identifying the issue, what is going on, what is the specific problem, the nature of the problem, etc.
- So What Questions–Provides meaning, impact, severity, and relevance
- Now What Questions–Gets to issues of resolution, action, next steps, and implementation
Brainstorming has a long history, and is an approach that most have learned and applied to drive innovation, idea generation, and creativity. Yet brainstorming is fundamentally problematic for three reasons:
- People are highly influenced by the ideas of other, so that when we brainstorm, the initial ideas (often pushed by a relative few) have a tendency to anchor and influence future ideas.
- Emphasis on avoiding feedback and critique (two basic tenets of brainstorming) limits creativity and idea generation
- Focusing (too soon) on the solution rather than the problem, problem solving processes often identify great solutions for the wrong problem
Next time you find yourself wanting to brainstorm, consider brainwriting; allowing for critique and feedback in brainstorming processes; and/or focusing on questions first, then solutions (ProblemStorming™).
What is your experience with brainstorming? What alternatives have you used?
Inciting Leaders 