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Claims about the success of brainstorming rest on easily tested assumptions. One
assumption is that groups produce more ideas than individuals. Researchers in Minnesota
tested this with scientists and advertising executives from the 3M Company. Half the
subjects worked in groups of four. The other half worked alone, and then their results were
randomly combined as if they had worked in a group, with duplicate ideas counted only
once. In every case, four people working individually generated between 30 to 40 percent
more ideas than four people working in a group. Their results were of a higher quality, too:
independent judges assessed the work and found that the individuals produced better
ideas than the groups.
Follow-up research tested whether larger groups performed any better. In one study, 168
people were either divided into teams of five, seven, or nine or asked to work individually.
The research confirmed that working individually is more productive than working in
groups. It also showed that productivity decreases as group size increases. The
conclusion: Group brainstorming, over a wide range of group sizes, inhibits rather than
facilitates creative thinking. The groups produced fewer and worse results because they
were more likely to get fixated on one idea and because, despite all exhortations to the
contrary, some members felt inhibited and refrained from full participation.
Another assumption of brainstorming is that suspending judgment is better than assessing
ideas as they appear. Researchers in Indiana tested this by asking groups of students to
think of brand names for three different products. Half of the groups were told to refrain
from criticism and half were told to criticize as they went along. Once again, independent
judges assessed the quality of each idea. The groups that did not stop to criticize produced
more ideas, but both groups produced the same number of good ideas. Deferring criticism
added only bad ideas. Subsequent studies have reinforced this.
Research into brainstorming has a clear conclusion. The best way to create is to work alone
and evaluate solutions as they occur. The worst way to create is to work in large groups and
defer criticism. Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobss cofounder at Apple and the inventor of its first