Arxiv
Brainstorming-might be wrong technique (3 mins read)
Natavan
Yazıçı · 4 oktyabr 2026 · 5 dəq oxu
Let me start with the history of the brainstorming concept that I read from the book “Quiet” by Susan Cain. The story of the legendary advertising man Alex Osborn. He was a founding partner of the advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Osborn (BBDO). He wrote several books during the 1940s and 1950s, in fact, each tackling a problem that had vexed him in his capacity as head of BBDO: his employees were not creative enough. They had good ideas, Osborn believed but were loath to share them for fear of their colleagues’ judgement.
For Osborn, the solution was not to have his employees work alone, but rather to remove the threat of criticism from group work. He invented the concept of brainstorming, a process in which group members generate ideas in a nonjudgmental atmosphere. Brainstorming had four rules:
- Don’t judge or criticize ideas
- Be freewheeling. The wilder the idea, the better
- Go for quantity. The more ideas you have, the better
- Build on the ideas of fellow group members
Osborn believed passionately that groups-once freed from the shackles of social judgement-produced more and better ideas than did individuals working in solitude, and he made grand claims for his favored method. Osborn’s theory had great impact, and company leaders took up brainstorming with enthusiasm. To this day, it’s common for anyone who spends time in corporate America to find himself occasionally cooped up with colleagues in a room full of whiteboards, markers, and a preternaturally peppy facilitator encouraging everyone to free-associate.
There is only one problem with Osborn’s breakthrough idea: group brainstorming doesn’t actually work. Studies have shown that performance gets worse as group size increases: groups of nine generate fewer and poorer ideas compared to groups of six, which do worse than groups of four. The “evidence from science suggests that business people must be insane to use brainstorming groups,” writes the organizational psychologist Adrian Furnham. “If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity of efficiency is the highest priority.”
Psychologists usually offer three explanations for the failure of group brainstorming. The first is
Social loafing
In a group, some individuals tend to sit back and let others do the work.
Production blocking
Only one person can talk or produce an idea at once, while the other group members are forced to sit passively.
Evaluation apprehension
Meaning the fear of looking stupid in front of one’s peers.
Osborn’s “rules” of brainstorming were meant to neutralize this anxiety, but studies show that the fear of public humiliation is a potent force.
After reading this part from “Quite” I recall my memories, experience on the concept of brainstorming. As group work is popular at universities, summer schools, training programs we can’t imagine it without concept of brainstorming. When we did group work there were certain type of people-who want to dominate the group with his/her ideas, who produce good ideas but are not heard because of not saying it in a loud confident voice (usually introverts), who are indifferent to the ideas and just want to get his/her mark at the end and those who can’t decide whom to support and will criticize or agree with every ideas sound during discussion. It is irrefutable that interpersonal relations also affects final decision. The person who has good social reputation, halo effect at the group will take the biggest slice of the cake no matter whether idea was of quality. No, it doesn’t mean that brainstorming is useless. Indeed, having right size of group with right people in a right way (for example: online brainstorming) can make this process even productive.
Source: "Quiet" Susan Cain
Please note that English is not my first language
Note: it was published in 2018 on natadan.com