015: The Myth of Outside the Box Thinking: Why Brainstorming and Other Such Techniques Are Your Worst Enemy

Brainstorming = Innovation, correct?

A lot of people equate innovation with brainstorming. And that’s entirely false. In fact, brainstorming creates this one-sided view that biases people to think that there are certain creatives, and then there are people that are not creative.

But creativity is a skill that anybody can learn!

If anything, brainstorming can do more harm than good. Today, we dive deep into why you should probably put off brainstorming sessions to make way for the more creative ways of thinking.

In this episode you’ll hear:

1. Where the idea of brainstorming came from
2. The 4 rules of brainstorming
3. Does brainstorming work?
4. Why brainstorming is ubiquitous today
5. Why brainstorming doesn’t work
6. The fallacy of brainstorming in terms of deferring judgment
7. Why brainstorming does a lot of damage
8. Things you can do if ever you’re pulled into a brainstorming session

Resources from this episode:

Applied Imagination by Alex Osborne

https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Imagination-Alex-F-Osborn/dp/0023895209

Research paper: Flawed Tools by Gary Schirr

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264659753_Flawed_Tools_The_Efficacy_of_Group_Research_Methods_to_Generate_Customer_Ideas

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