4 ms·

"It has consistently been found that people produce more ideas when working alone as compared to when working in a group. Yet, people generally believe that gro

"It has consistently been found that people produce more ideas when working alone as compared to when working in a group. Yet, people generally believe that group brainstorming is more effective than individual brainstorming. Further, group members are more satisfied with their performance than individuals, whereas they have generated fewer ideas." I've never judged the productivity of a group session by the number of ideas produced. I think that's a terrible measure. I judge it by the quality of the few that the group settles on by the end. And in my experience, group sessions produce ideas of a quality that I could not have produced by myself. When working with good people, we riff off each other and fill in the gaps in each other's ideas that we wouldn't have even realized were there if we were working on our own. It's very hard to spot your own weaknesses. I'm convinced that feedback is great and that getting out of your own head is great, and a good meeting can deliver that. Not always, of course. I'm a programmer. I like my me time, and I'm definitely not arguing for group work all or even close to most of the time. But I'm definitely a better person for the trips I take away from my shell.

srdev 14y ago
Group brainstorming is also about building a consensus about the ideas produced. People are more invested in ideas where they've put their mark. It may lead to bike-shedding, but sometimes that necessary if you want everyone to be invested and dedicated to the approach.
- nness 14y ago
  Whilst there are dangers, like group polarization, I completely agree that group activities, even meetings, are certainly as much about ensuring personal involvement and ownership of the outcomes, than just ideation alone.
abeppu 14y ago
I agree that really good ideas can come out of discussion and interaction with other people -- but I think this works best with 1-3 other people. With a small group, you can have a productive conversation that successfully identifies and solves the problems in an idea. But the least effective group brain-storming sessions are ones with a large number of people, and those are also the ones that are worst for introverts. With too large a group you end up with a reluctant high school English class socratic seminar.
greenyoda 14y ago
"When working with good people, we riff off each other and fill in the gaps in each other's ideas that we wouldn't have even realized were there if we were working on our own." The kind of synergy you describe may happen when a bunch of really smart people get together, assuming that their egos don't get in the way. But, on average, meetings are attended by average people. Which means that smart people will be outnumbered (and perhaps resented).

srdev 14y ago

Group brainstorming is also about building a consensus about the ideas produced. People are more invested in ideas where they've put their mark. It may lead to bike-shedding, but sometimes that necessary if you want everyone to be invested and dedicated to the approach.

nness 14y ago
Whilst there are dangers, like group polarization, I completely agree that group activities, even meetings, are certainly as much about ensuring personal involvement and ownership of the outcomes, than just ideation alone.

abeppu 14y ago

I agree that really good ideas can come out of discussion and interaction with other people -- but I think this works best with 1-3 other people. With a small group, you can have a productive conversation that successfully identifies and solves the problems in an idea. But the least effective group brain-storming sessions are ones with a large number of people, and those are also the ones that are worst for introverts. With too large a group you end up with a reluctant high school English class socratic seminar.

greenyoda 14y ago

"When working with good people, we riff off each other and fill in the gaps in each other's ideas that we wouldn't have even realized were there if we were working on our own." The kind of synergy you describe may happen when a bunch of really smart people get together, assuming that their egos don't get in the way. But, on average, meetings are attended by average people. Which means that smart people will be outnumbered (and perhaps resented).