This week’s book learning is from Quiet by Susan Cain and is part of a series on “Brainstorming and Peer Pressure”. (Part 1)
In 1963, researcher Marvin Dunnette brought together 48 research scientists and 48 advertising executives from 3M for solitary and group brainstorming sessions.
For the “group” case – They were each divided into 12 groups each and given 4 different problems to brainstorm.
For the “solitary” case – In order to compare apples with apples, Dunnette also combined 4 individuals in the solitary case to make it a “virtual” group. He then independently ensured the quality of ideas could be rated, too.
The results..
– Men in 23 out of 24 groups produced more ideas working alone than in a group
– The results were exactly the same for the typically introverted research scientists and the more extroverted advertising executives
Shocking, isn’t it? 40 years of research has repeatedly demonstrated that our performance gets worse when group size increases. So, if you have talented or motivated people, encourage them to work alone.
Is there any benefit to group brainstorming then? The only positive result from group brainstorming is that it helps people feel “connected” – a worthy goal, so long as we understand that social connectivity is what we achieve, and not creativity.
Sketch by EB
The only exception is online brainstorming where large groups have shown to produce better work – of course, that means we have folks expressing their view without social pressure. The same has been found for virtual collaboration between professors.
So, how important a factor is social pressure in our performance? Coming soon to an inbox near you..
Here’s to ensuring we “brainstorm” only when necessary this week!
A Learning a Day 