Highly Creative Groups
The good news about highly creative groups is that the characteristics that make
them so productive are identifiable and, with practice, replicable. For example (Paulus 2006):
- Autonomy and independence of the players
- Low blocking. You don't have to strive to be heard.
- High diversity. Meetings between individuals of differing expertise
What Works
A simple method that enables all three of these desirable characteristics is "brainwriting" (Paulus 2003a, 2003b, 1993).
IdeaTree is an interactive, web-based example of brainwriting. In brainwriting, ideas are written rather than spoken, then passed among group members. Previous ideas are
read and understood before appending your own.
- A Perfect Brainstorm - Alison Stein Wellner
"
...for the past 14 years, psychologist Paul Paulus has delved into the science behind eurekas, staging more than 1,000 brainstorming sessions, varying the conditions, and measuring the results. Want to know whether it's better to write ideas down or say them out loud during a session? Paulus has tested it, and knows the answer. (Write it down.) How many breaks should the ideal brainstorm entail? (Plenty.)
Paulus's first piece of advice will strike most as surprising, if not heretical: The group is not God. Group brainstorming, used day in and day out by countless business owners, really doesn't work that well, according to Paulus. You're almost always better off directing your employees to brainstorm individually..."
"Rather than staging a face-to-face group, direct participants to write their ideas down on a piece of paper or electronically. One member of the group writes an idea, another reads it, adds feedback and his or her own ideas, and so on. This overcomes a lot of the problems of the group, says Paulus. Plus, it gives people more time to think about, and respond intelligently to, their colleagues' ideas. He's found that brainwriting exercises generate about 40% more ideas than individuals brainstorming alone."
- Brainstorming pitfalls and best practices - The ACM Digital Library
- Brainstorming Methods - The Usability Body of Knowledge
See their explanation of "Brainwriting", "Nominal Group Technique", and "Braindrawing". IdeaTree implements all three.
Top
How IdeaTree Helps
- Autonomy: Junior participants often feel awkward about voicing "wild ideas." By using anonymous usernames (optional), everyone can be on a level playing field.
- Low blocking: A low noise "talk stream" that can be entered without a lot of striving to be heard. The self-pruning that goes on in IdeaTree naturally leads people into knowledge of others' perspectives since it's to their advantage to know what's already been said in order to place new contributions at meaningful places in the visual map.
- High diversity: You can select your collaboration team from the entire roster of IdeaTree users, then give individual members access on a map-by-map basis, easily building cross-disciplinary and ever-changing project teams.
There's More To Life Than Brainstorming
It's only half of the equation. Once they're generated, quality ideas must be recognized and acted upon. This is a whole new area of research with
exciting implications for improving...well, life. Please see the two-page summary.
References
Paulus, Paul, Ph.D. (2006), talk given to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Paulus, P. B., & Brown, V. R. (2003a). Enhancing ideational creativity in groups: Lessons from research on brainstorming. In P. B. Paulus & B. A. Nijstad (Eds.), Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration (pp. 110-136). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Paulus, P. B. & Nijstad, B. A. (Eds.) (2003b). Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Paulus, P. B., & Dzindolet, M. T. (1993). Social influence processes in group brainstorming: The illusion of group productivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 575-586.
