Brainstorming does not work. Although it is still one of the most common methods of stimulating team creativity, the reality is it reduces the results of creative thinking and causes lower team performance. These are the findings of the latest research on the effectiveness of brainstorming. A recognized expert in psychometric testing Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of organizational psychology at University College London and vice president of Hogan Assessment Systems, presented these results in a recent article on the Harvard Business Review website. In another article on the same website, he adds that brainstorming can work, but only in virtual teams.
If we replace the physical presence and oral speech of brainstorming participants with written communication via email or a similar technology, we are talking about brainwriting or electronic brainstorming. Studies comparing the results of brainstorming in traditional and virtual teams clearly show that virtual brainstorming is more creative and more effective. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic described three basic reasons why.
1. No idea blocking
In written virtual communication there are no situations when one person talks all the time without allowing others to express their opinions. Electronic brainstorming is how introverted employees get back in the game. While larger groups are not desirable in traditional brainstorming, a virtual group can be any size. Everyone has a chance to contribute.
2. Greater anonymity
Individuals who would be afraid to express their ideas in traditional brainstorming are more active in a virtual environment. Anonymity also allows a more objective assessment of ideas, because the ideas are not decided on the basis of who the author is. Give your people the opportunity to share ideas anonymously and have a look at the results.
3. More diverse ideas
The so-called regression to the mean occurs in traditional brainstorming. The most talented members of groups tend to lean towards the average ideas of others. However, when we are not facing others directly when creating ideas, we come up with a wider range of our own ideas. Try asking your people to write their ideas on paper individually and you will see that they come up with more ideas than if they met in a traditional brainstorming session.
What experience do you have with electronic brainstorming?
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