An inspiring article about creativity (taking you into the brainstorming process and teamwork)

I’ve just read this article, about a creative process, how to make it better, what’s right and wrong about it:

• Brainstorming Doesn’t Really Work : The New Yorker

A quote from it:

“While the instruction ‘Do not criticize’ is often cited as the important instruction in brainstorming, this appears to be a counterproductive strategy. Our findings show that debate and criticism do not inhibit ideas but, rather, stimulate them relative to every other condition.” Osborn thought that imagination is inhibited by the merest hint of criticism, but Nemeth’s work and a number of other studies have demonstrated that it can thrive on conflict.”

The article’s conclusion:

Building 20, though, ranks as one of the most creative environments of all time, a space with an almost uncanny ability to extract the best from people. Among M.I.T. people, it was referred to as “the magical incubator.”

The fatal misconception behind brainstorming is that there is a particular script we should all follow in group interactions. The lesson of Building 20 is that when the composition of the group is right—enough people with different perspectives running into one another in unpredictable ways—the group dynamic will take care of itself. All these errant discussions add up. In fact, they may even be the most essential part of the creative process. Although such conversations will occasionally be unpleasant—not everyone is always in the mood for small talk or criticism—that doesn’t mean that they can be avoided. The most creative spaces are those which hurl us together. It is the human friction that makes the sparks.

What the article got me thinking about:

• There is no such thing as a bad movie, speech, book, text, interaction – Get a result now!

I highly recommend you to read it, it’s a good read on how to be creative, how to do better work, how to become better at coming up with new things.