Anatomy of Creative Leadership by Russ Schoen

"Which process generates the best ideas – having several individuals brainstorm alone or bringing them together to bounce ideas off one another?"

A study conducted by professors of the Wharton School at UPENN and an assistant professor at INSEAD sought to answer this question using research. Here’s what they found.

When they compared a group that worked together vs individuals, they found that individuals generated more ideas.

However, the group that worked together generated the ideas that were rated OVERALL AS THE BEST (by an outside panel). They also generated ideas that were RATED AS THE WORST.  

The researcher’s rationale? The group that worked together were able to build on each other’s ideas…According to one of the researchers, ""Random interactions are likely to produce better-quality ideas."

So the next time you really want good ideas, pull a group together. You just might generate a great idea (and most likely you would also probably generate an awful idea!)

Learn more about the study here.

A special thanks to Newell Eaton of New and Improved who originally shared this with me!