Traditional brainstorming sessions , in which employees gather in a conference room and " spitball " idea in the hopes of hitting upon something brainy , are a favorite tactic among coach . But raw inquiry shows they ’re not peculiarly effectual . According toFast society ’s Co. Design , researchers have key out the flaws of brainstorming and have acquaint an alternative , called brainwriting , which replaces verbal idea bat with the practice of writing down thoughts . The note are then passed around , so that each member of the radical can see — and be revolutionise by — their coworkers ' thoughts before they add their own .
Paulus and his team lately published a two - part sketch inthe journalHuman Factors and ErgonomicsSocietythat evaluatedbrainwriting in a existent work environment with 57 employee at a tech company . In the first part , some participants were demand to bring forth idea on their own and then brainwrite with a group , while other participants play with the radical first and then work out individually . The solution showed that the worker generated 37 percent more mind when they did brainwriting as a group as opposed to brainstorming alone . The study also showed that brainwriting first and then guess alone right away after work well than the inverse , because the initial grouping academic term boost private creativity .
In a related experimentation , some workers were call for to tack between the two types of ideation sessions ( brainwriting and solo thinking ) several times , while others only did brainwriting . Those who did not make the switch were ascertain to get few estimate per minute than those who interchange . " Alone , you never get other hoi polloi ’s ideas , " Paulus said . " And if you ’re in a group all the prison term , you may spend more time thinking about other people ’s ideas than your own . "
So the next time you ’re in need of a bright idea , break out the pen and newspaper : Passing banknote just might be the keystone to your big breakthrough .
[ h / tCo . Design ]
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