Quiet: Post #4--Brainstorming

Brainstorming—Not So Fast: Alex Osborn, an advertising exec in the 1940-1950s, created “brainstorming,” believing that a nonjudgmental environment was key to idea generation. However, 40 years of rigorous research shows he was wrong! Individuals produced more ideas of equal or higher quality than groups. And the larger the group, the worse the results—groups of 9 under-produce groups of 6, and they do worse than groups of 4. However, electronic brainstorming, if managed well, produces superior results.