Brainstorming: More Questions Than Answers

Teresa Torres examines the public debate sparked by Jonah Lehrer's claim that brainstorming does not work, which followed Scott Berkun's rebuttal. She traces brainstorming to Alex Osborn, an advertising executive whose popularity rested on his firm's reputation rather than research. She then weighs a 1958 study by Taylor, Berry, and Block, which found that individuals working alone outperformed real brainstorming groups, and finds its design sound. She sets aside the second study Lehrer cited as weak. Torres offers several reasons brainstorming might still work in practice, such as skilled facilitation, the right group composition, and practice, and also suggests that people may be confusing structured brainstorming with serendipitous creative association. She concludes that the evidence raises more questions than answers.

01Key takeaways

• Brainstorming in groups may produce fewer ideas than the same people working alone, so measure the results rather than assuming the benefit.
• Social inhibition and groupthink can suppress unusual ideas and narrow the range of thinking when people are in a group.
• Effective brainstorming likely depends on skilled facilitation, including prompts, encouragement to build on ideas, and reframing when the group stalls.
• Group composition matters: diversity of expertise and thinking styles may affect outcomes more than the brainstorming method itself.
• Distinguish structured brainstorming from informal creative collisions between diverse people, since the two may produce different results.
• Be skeptical of practices supported mainly by reputation and anecdote rather than rigorous evidence.

02Key sections

What brainstorming is

Osborn introduced brainstorming in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group method for generating more and better ideas. His rules emphasized quantity, withholding criticism, welcoming unusual ideas, and combining ideas, though his claims were based on experience rather than research.

The 1958 study against brainstorming

Taylor, Berry, and Block found that nominal groups, made of individuals' ideas combined afterward, significantly outperformed real brainstorming groups. Torres finds the study well designed and its results hard to dismiss.

Dismissing the second study

Torres sets aside the Nemeth study that Lehrer cited because its groups were unfamiliar with each other and with brainstorming, and its differences were minimal, so it does not add much to the discussion.

Why brainstorming might still work

Torres proposes that brainstorming is a skill requiring practice and skilled facilitation, and that group composition such as size and diversity may matter. The original study's small groups and inexperienced facilitation may not reflect well-run sessions.

Brainstorming versus creative association

Torres suggests that the value attributed to brainstorming may actually come from informal, serendipitous connections between diverse people, a different process from a forced cognitive session.

03From the post

“There's been a lot of confusion around brainstorming these days. First, there was the New Yorker article by Jonah Lehrer claiming that brainstorming doesn't work. Scott Berkun wrote a rebuttal arguing Lehrer's logic was flawed. Twitter exploded with comments. I'm going to try to make sense”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.