Outrage and then heated debate reverberated around Propellernet Towers yesterday when our daily news scanning found a story in the Metro generated by A&M University in Texas, about the University’s research on the effectiveness of brainstorms. The story claims that people get their best ideas when sitting quietly on their own and that brainstorms are counter productive.

What rot! As Creative Director at Propellernet, reading the story fair made my blood boil and I felt compelled to answer these broad brush and ill considered claims!

Brainstorming with a team is one of the most valuable methods we use to come up with the fresh and exciting ideas we do for clients and if they are prepared for, facilitated properly and focused, deliver creative yet realistic and achievable results.

I absolutely accept that people’s brains are wired differently. Some of the team here are ‘creative perculators’ going away from a brainstorm still brimming with ideas and developing these in their own minds over coming hours or days, but some of the team are ‘creative builders’, who take nuggets of ideas from other team members and build on them to make an idea bigger, better and more focused.
Brainstorms at Propellernet are always productive, energetic and an exciting meetings of minds, never ‘random thoughts in the boardroom on a Monday morning’ and here’s why:

(more…)