Why Brainstorming Is Overrated: A New Approach To Creativity

Merriam-Webster defines brainstorming as: a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group; ALSO : the mulling over of ideas by one or more individuals in an attempt to devise or find a solution to a problem

I’m not much of a meeting person, so from my perspective, when it comes to meetings, the fewer the better. And there are meetings, and then there are meetings. Take free form brainstorming sessions for example, where you lock yourself in a room with cell phones turned off, and you don’t emerge until a pristine whiteboard is blackened with ideas.

I’ll confess something here. Sometimes I head into a brainstorming meeting and my mind just goes blank. It doesn’t matter if we’re trying to dream up promotional copy, or the next game changer for the industry — my mind just refuses to wrap itself around the task at hand. And then some brave soul ventures an idea and everyone in the meeting leaps on board to build on it – bad, good, or indifferent – in a frenzy to put something on the whiteboard.

On my team I have my share of extroverted, highly verbal thinkers who always have something to say in a brainstorming session. In fact, they drive the idea generation process. But, I also have my share of the quiet ones. Those are easy to spot. They’re the ones who are hunkered down, thinking hard, writing furiously and saying almost nothing. The ideas we generate in the meeting are duly recorded and everyone walks out of the meeting feeling like something was accomplished. And then I look at the meeting notes the next day, and — whaaaaaat???? What were we thinking??? Everything that had seemed groundbreaking and exciting the day before now seems trivial, or worse yet, just version 2.0 of the same old-same old.

I find that free form brainstorming sessions can:

Stifle creativity because of “group think” — people latch onto bad ideas as the session foundation piece because they feel pressured to come up with something, however misguided. It is difficult to champion a dissenting opinion – to be the lone voice in the wilderness — in free form sessions when an idea (read, bad idea) has gained traction.

Deliver one-dimensional output – i.e., the output may not be representative of the full range of the group’s ideas. Here’s why….the more extroverted personality types will happily contribute in the moment, while the more introverted personality types may wait to contribute after the fact, if and when they get an opening. Both personality types can be great contributors to a brainstorm process, but they’ll add value at different times/different points in the idea flow.

In my experience, here’s where the most promising ideas come from:

From not meeting: I think that at least 75% of truly original ideas come from not meeting. For me, sound, original ideas need processing time and inspiration. I find that inspiration comes at the most unexpected times, but most often, they bubble up when: I’ve been chewing on an opportunity/challenge for a while, and I have some mental space and physical distance from the daily pressures and interruptions at work. Downtime moments — driving my child to school, riding on the train, settling down to sleep – are catalysts for my creativity.

Structured meetings built on advance work. The best ideas generated in meetings happen when everyone has a clear understanding of the goals of the brainstorming effort and are tasked in advance to “dream up” solutions. When a team has time to process a challenge/opportunity before meeting on it, participants can come prepared to contribute their unique POV. The meeting time is then used to evaluate and synthesize the different points of view. This approach levels the playing field between the extroverted and introverted participants, and fosters creativity while assuring more multi-dimensional output.

My brainstorming basics are simple. Meet less. Think more. Draw inspiration from your day’s little moments. Have your team do the same. Then, with your team, discuss, debate, shred, rebuild, expand, and debate some more. Rinse. Repeat.