Jonah Lehrer on Brainstorming
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2012
- Does Brainstorming Work?
This is the question psychologists have been baffled by for nearly half a century and we're still on the path of discovering whether brainstorming is a technique that extracts the best out of people or if it's a method that suppresses creativity.
Journalist and author, Jonah Lehrer, argues that brainstorming produces less original ideas than those people who work by themselves. From Alex Osborn, the father of brainstorming, to Charlen Nemeth, Jonah explains why brainstorming just doesn't work.
Resources:
Charlan Nemeth et al. study
www.ilr.cornell.edu/directory...
Rossiter & Lilien
www.garylilien.info/publicatio...
Speaker:
Jonah Lehrer
Animators:
Marija Jacimovic
Benoit Detalle
Watch the video:
www.thersa.org/events/video/vi...
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We love this idea. Brainstorming on your own is a great tool - we all do it - we just call it "thinking." We love to mix it up with each other and constructively criticize each other. It's how your idea grows. You kick the legs out and teach it to be stronger. Then it grows.
Being able to challenge other peoples' ideas in a way that invites them or others to expand and invent is an important balance, with superficial shallowness on one side and harsh, prohibitive, that is, destructive, criticism on the other. Building each others' ideas into something stronger by identifying and challenging weak spots is vitally useful. Being too quick to dismiss something as just stupid or declare it to have no constructive value ends conversations and builds resentment, and is the kind of criticism that good brainstormers should endeavor to avoid at all costs.
Great little video! And I wonder how they do the animated paper balls... 🤔😁
I know it's a short but I wish you could expand on this.
I took this from the author's own Wikipedia page:
"Lehrer is the author of three best-selling books: Proust Was a Neuroscientist (2007), How We Decide (2009), and Imagine: How Creativity Works (2012). Two of these books have been withdrawn from the market by their publishers for inaccuracies, mis-attributed quotations, fabricated quotations, plagiarism and recycled content."
Tragic.... Imagine is a terrific book.. some of his insights are unworldly. He didnt have to add fakes to prop up his arguments..
best video case, beautiful art direction.
Every single brainstorming I've attended has included constructive criticism. I've always thought that the fights that can ensue were part of the name giving process, thus the storm of brains. I guess I learned the wrong definition.
good video, short and interesting
hope there will be more like this one
Very interesting topic. Loved the animation. Loved it!
Alright and thanks for the heads up.
What an awesome and creative video!
English isn't the easier language in the world to master; congratulations on being able to communicate effectively to a native speaker. Keep up the good work!
this animation in spot on...often the need for each member of the group to be seen as a group member has the individuals all just trying to fit in... and it does not create anything new or dynamic..
It's all about the nature of the criticism. Some criticism does quash further ventures into sharing ideas. However, the question, "How can we make that a little bit BETTER?", and the art of truly constructive criticism, can help take one idea and use it to spawn many more.
This was amazing!
Fantastic !
RSA, one of the best channels on youtube!!! very creative and point on!
Such a colourful video =3
I can attest to the to the assumption that the imagination can be meek, shy and fragile. I can recall instances in which I've shared ideas in brainstorming sessions that I was amped about only to feel totally deflated afterwards because of the negative feedback I received. Alternatively, I have found that the debate and consent approach can be very effective, but only if the people engaging in this method trust each other and are genuinely interested in exploring new avenues together.
I think a great follow up to this is the RSA video on "the Secret of Super Teams," where the speaker analyzes Pixar's method of allowing all ideas, positive and negative onto the table while leaving the "decision makers" the freedom to focus on or ignore whatever they want. Thus avoiding the congestion of consensus or the tyranny of authority (or something like that).
Ok, what kind of criticism (constructive, destructive, etc) works best?
Brainstorming has virtues beyond just sharing ideas. A lively discussion and debate is perhaps more effective at producing more ideas. However, if co-workers don’t feel comfortable defending their ideas, the discussion will quickly be dominated by one point of view. In turn, people get in line behind the leader and the outcome is dictated by who has the power. Brainstorming can be an effective tool in opening the window for a group of people to share ownership of a common goal.
I should definitely remember this video
Beautiful
I think part of it is that when people don't criticize, people know their ideas will be judged anyway, so they don't speak. The way to get past the problem of people not voicing their opinions isn't to pretend they won't be judged by disallowing criticism, but to encourage criticism to the point where it is the norm and people aren't offended by it because it goes in both directions - ideally, you give criticism just as much as you get it.
The idea behind brainstorming is to get to the those novel ideas that others haven't come up with. Free association in a group setting allows members to branch off others' ideas and get to the more novel ideas. When there is criticism, especially for initial brainstorming, it can lead to the person who posed the idea to internalize and not share future ideas for fear of more criticism. The more ideas, no matter what they consist of, are seen as good because it allows more associations. The most novel ideas are usually developed after all all the common and easy ideas have been used.
Brilliant.
UniversalPotentate got it right. The principle behind 'Don't criticize' in brainstorming, means don't criticize the person, but criticize the ideas, dismantle them, add to them, see them rise or crumble. No wonder brainstorming didn't work for these guys. In my experience it is a really fun way of doing science, many good ideas of my lab came for nice ferocious brainstorming
Brainstorming is a TWO step process. First part is all about free association, gathering ideas, divergent thinking, making people feel confortable, at easy, so they open and get out ideas, whithout fear of criticism....and then, the SECOND part, is commenting on every single idea produced....that's when convergent thinking, and rational criticism enter in play.....it really looks the author of this video is not aware of this important detail
the first part is the brainstorming, while the second part is the editing/grouping/interpretation (depending on how your group does it) 😊
Well, if you take care to use a structured form of creative problem solving, brainstorming can be useful. First, discuss the problem thoroughly without proposing solutions, then brainstorm by giving a brief explanations or small drawings of the ideas, then prune harshly, and then cycle any number of times with basis in the proposed solutions.
Awesome
Agreed! Trust is the essential element not often touched on by those debunking the brainstorm. Sure, "don't criticize" is a key tenet, but brainstorming is more than that. We worked hard at my agency to make brainstorms effective and succeeded when we built trust as a foundation, so I know it can be done. Unfortunately, it's not at all easy to grow that trust, which is fragile, and why brainstorming is rarely effective in most organizations. Nice animations, BTW.
'no criticism' was not simply because the imagination is meek. Power dynamics don't allways foster open dialogue. Getting people to speak out and not fear being fired or chastised sometimes requires the message that they will not be 'wrong.' brainstorming might be a step towards open dialogue along with learning to criticize without excoriating the others. It may not work like more developed forms of collaboration, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a function in the process of sharing.
This will be a surprise to the hundreds of groups I have worked with in brainstorming. There is a place for criticism afterwards if managed correctly. By letting people think "out of the box," it stretches them to the max. Recording ideas on a whiteboard or easel paper diffuses the ownership, and at a successful conclusion, most people forgot whose ideas was whose. Establishing criteria for evaluation, it's much easier to reduce the ideas to the critical few, and then criticism is valuable.
This is impressive it'll help with understanding how creativity works best a little more. :3
I'm programming a game. It's a challenge. Strangely enough, all my best ideas happen away from the computer, when I'm sitting with a pen and paper. Not all ideas are good ideas, but you gotta have a wild and open mentality. What you do is you come up with possible solutions, plenty of them, and you think abstractly. But eventually, you need to bring those abstract ideas until reality, so criticism is necessary. Often, some of the best ideas mix together to form a better final result.
Johan has also neglected to mention anything about two important things. One, the social psychology of groups and what happens when critical voices take over. Two, the usefulness of using drawing, diagrams, visual mapping of ideas, which can help us get around the cliches and boundaries of language.
I think it's because usually the art complements the talk which makes easier to consume the ideas that are being transmited by the talker.
How Creativity Works is probably my all time favorite RSA talk
What you want is the individual to come up with the idea and then the group to polish it. Get each person in the group to come up with 20 or so ideas and then get everyone together to discus and amylase the now 100 collective ideas and from there discard develop and combine ideas etc. Then get everyone to go back to the drawing board to come up with 20 more ideas with the inspiration form the other ideas and rinse and repeat until an ultimate solution has appeared that solves all the problems.
All ideas are flawed, there is such a thing as a bad idea and you have to accept that but for every piece of garbage there is a gem. By sifting through the garbage you will find the best solutions. At the end of the day out of the 500 odd ideas you want to get to a point where you really have 5 gems which you can then take further.
So yeah brain storming works when used both individually and in groups but you should never use just one method.
Great
I feel that through brainstorming great Ideas are born if we did not have the criticism we would not have the chance to chalenge our brains. the old saying great minds think alike came from people brainstorming with each other I feel that by having more then one oppion helps us to make better desions.
The animation is sooper dooper
Some times i had a hard time keeping focus on what were told because there were to much action in the movie.. :) but nice info..
love it
did you use brainstorming to come up with the animations in this video?
That groupmap app works as a good alternative to sticky notes and helps overcome some of these barriers
what about the example of Dr House in the show House md, every idea given by his team is criticized by him, but eventually they get it done
I don't know if I should agree with this, or criticise it.
Hey Jesse, we know what it feels like when you just need to get your idea out there to be seen, without the conversational bulldozers and meeting hijackers. Nothing wrong with a good debate, once the picture has been built.
The next time you run your brainstorm, try using GroupMap. It lets you put down ideas anonymously which is rotated through for equal airtime. You can upvote and reject suggestions and then see the overall picture as a team. Then you use the group view for debate. enjoy!
Someone missing the point? In my experience, brainstorming can generate a lot of interesting ideas - provided the don't criticise rule is robustly applied during the 'storming' period: the review of ideas once the 'storming' has ended is where the debate takes place. The value of brainstorming is that it fires off ideas in other people..
I think the 'blue' example is simplistic. Usually, people are brainstorming around a specific issue/problem not doing it for the fun!
¿Funciona? Sobre superficies de escritura EeZe Clean, ¡si!
There are many channels in so different categories my friend :)
RSA is best in it's own category.
This really is a shameless oversimplification of what brainstorming is, and how it works. I am curious to hear the author's response to the criticism that has been voiced in the comments. Based on what I know of divergent and convergent thinking it seems that he has produced this piece for the sole purpose of garnering views. It is clear that he did not actually do any research into the ideas that he is espousing.
They cite the Nemeth study which claims more ideas are generated when criticism is allowed.That study is flawed.Respondents were told to generate GOOD ideas, thereby were given criteria during the divergent thinking phase.They also were never told to build upon each other's ideas.The study says they were using Osborn's rules of brainstorming but they weren't-so the study was flawed from the beginning.YET,this study is always the one that all brainstorming naysayers will quote from every time
the logo doesnt fit to the content
i think a very important aspekt about the whole brainstorming doesnt work thing is the differance between criticising an idea and critisising the person behind the idea.
not even intetually. but people feel attacked very fast.
just a thought. i am from germany and my written englisch is HORRIBLE i know. every english teacher ever told me ;)
I have no idea what just happened...but I feel smarter :D
Relax, Think ! Desi Arnez on script meetings.
Many commenters have spoke about the results of brainstorming when done in the way it was designed to work: no criticism (not even silent one), trust between members, adequate duration, etc.. A well defined question also helps. I want to add that this is one technique among many that aims at generating a large number of ideas. When you use a good tool the wrong way or to solve the wrong problem, it won't work. Personally, I find this video to be misleading.
For plagiarism, not veracity, correct?
Whoever claim that brainstorming does not work is because they don't understand how brainstorming works. The video has several flaws about the idea. Brainstorming can produce several times more ideas than any other method, that's the point. By itself, the method does not produce magically the best ideas but many ideas; if the leader of the session does not make the others participants produce a handful of ideas, is his fault, not the method's. The next step, to analyze them and decide for one or another idea, is not part of the method.
I thouhgt this was common knowledge I never read up on how to brainstorm i would just enter a group and come up with ideas and we would build on what was good and even implement a modified version of the bad it it could be used
they have a long lecture vid with Jonah Lehrer in it. although i would be careful apparently he did some plagiarizing for this work and others.
lol I always hated brainstorming. :)
Dude I love this, this is a lot like Ted Ed
Put people in a room with not criticism : he says shallow ideas
Put people in a room with a lot of criticism : I say, that the rule of the one that speak the loudest.
Individuals by themself have a lot of ideas
So not an OPERA method and do them all in one meeting ! ^^
I'm not sure this has anything to do with introversion and extroversion. I am with you about the value of introverts, but introversion does not equal timidity, even if the two often coincide. Early on he says that a more effective method than brain-storming without criticism or debate would be a group individually brain-storming (my preferred method, being an introvert myself). Shutting down debate to be polite to the timid isn't good for anyone, since introverts can produce stupid ideas, too.
Creativity by be nice committee? Please let me be run over by a herd of inverted hedgehogs instead.
Why can't you brainstorm with some criticism? I had been taught brainstorming was simply throwing out any idea, good or bad, with the intent that it may create connected ideas in someone else who can improve upon the original.
these shorts are more like heroin for my mind, keep em coming
So he is saying brain storming doesn't work cause it doesn't force us to be more imaginative?
I have found brainstorming to have never worked simply because there is always someone there that has learned to manipulate a crowd and, lets face it, innovation dies on the vine in this world unless you have the money to push it through.
Well done good luck can help if you wanr translate your content to arabic laguage
I think this is a misleading video. The sum of individual minds in a group is smaller than the collective thinking of the group due to positive/non-judgemental feedback, which encourages people to explore new ideas. When you are criticizing you are putting your own idea above the idea of the other person, and therefore limiting available dialogue. New ideas do not have an established form. They are the product of our imagination, not limited by language or other ideas. See for example Bohmian dialogue.
The cited research disagrees. That's the point of the video- to disseminate new knowledge from science.
This video is wrong at so many levels... And it gives the worse image of brainstorming which is far away from reality.
Can you give more concrete examples, why the arguments are wrong?
I disagree with the premise of the video in that brain storming is avoiding criticism. My family has been creating, producing, and filming the same TV show for 15 years. We brainstorm ALL THE TIME. It's NOT about avoiding criticism, it is about being about to think from a different perspective when our minds are stuck.
***** I think you guys are getting too hung up on the terminology. Your family has 'group discussions' all the time. The video creator is referencing a very specific ideology of Alex Osborn's term 'brainstorming' in which you do, indeed, specifically avoid criticism. Your family may call it 'brainstorming', but I would assume you do include levels of criticism in your discussions, which would defer from the original idea of what 'brainstorming' was supposed to be. The term 'brainstorming' is thrown around a lot and I'm sure most people are not aware of the original intent and just use it to describe a group meeting or discussion to think of ideas. Hes not knocking people getting together to discuss, hes knocking the original creators intent.
They died too young
Jonah Lehrer is a discredited author, and I went from being a fan to feeling cheated. Here once again we see Jonah arguing with full confidence over a wrong premise. What happens, for example, if you brainstorm with people you've never met from all over the world? And you can like ideas or pass them (not downgrade/criticize them.) Wouldn't that be true out of the box thinking?
In fact, thats what we try to do at my startup wikibrains, feel free to visit.
Whats the point of doing something that clear data says doesnt work? Just listen to a bunch of non-effective ideas to make introverts feel better??
:)
If one can't criticize criticism then criticize all you want and anyone whom breaks this rule are equally at fault. Such is merely a means to make both parties accept the burden of responsibility. You see you occasionally get some assclowns whom say guilt by association does not exist forgetting that guilt is a type of association in and of itself and thereby they are full of shit.
no wonder brainstorming didn't do shit in school
I always thought it was bullshit
Dafuq did I just watch?
Am I the only one bothered by how much paper was wasted in the making of this video? It beter have been recycled.
That was like a woman's skirt; Long enough to cover the subject, short enough to be interesting.
Here's a criticism: You are featuring content from a plagiarist. Maybe find a talk by someone who didn't steal his "original" ideas.