From the opening paragraph of the Newsweek article Forget Brainstorming
Brainstorming in a group became popular in 1953 with the publication of a business book, Applied Imagination. But it’s been proven not to work since 1958, when Yale researchers found that the technique actually reduced a team’s creative output: the same number of people generate more and better ideas separately than together.
Creative thinking is everything but collaboration. When people discuss or even vote for the inspirations flashed in one’s mind, it’s much unlikely that the best ideas would be on the final list, as nothing could be new if it’s widely accepted once born. Every piece of advice is a package of the originality, making it harder to be out of box.
In fact, according to University of Oklahoma professor Michael Mumford, half of the commonly used techniques intended to spur creativity don’t work, or even have a negative impact. As for most commercially available creativity training, Mumford doesn’t mince words: it’s “garbage.” Whether for adults or kids, the worst of these programs focus solely on imagination exercises, expression of feelings, or imagery.
There is definite boundary between creation and imagination. When we talk about creative works, it means they provide “reasonable surprise” to the customers, compared to the “pure surprise” irrelevant of the real world and social rules. Now, since it is astonishing and unexpected to us, how could it be produced as designed?
The only thing one would bless is the brain itself, instead of its working method.
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