The Problem with Traditional Brainstorming

Research in behavioral science classifies the benefits of brainstorming in two ways:

• Synergy: Ideas shared by one person can energize, inspire, and trigger ideas in other people.
• Social facilitation: Collaborating to reach a common goal can motivate everyone in the group.

These benefits, however, also come with some downsides. A major one is production blocking, a term used to describe a situation when someone has an innovative idea that gets lost in the mix because the larger group is focused on a different topic.