So, why do we expect teams to be creative in the first place? Right?
Yeah.
So, who's idea was that?
I mean we just we just outlined a disaster basically right.
So the question is,
why do people bother at all, I mean,
it's such a popular technique and it's so widely used. What's going on?
I mean, to me in many organizations brainstorming equals creativity. Right?
Right.
We come together with a group,
we bounce ideas, that's creativity.
Yeah.
I mean, it's often fundamentally perceived as a team activity.
Yeah. So, if we're going through this exercise then
creative ideas must be happening right? Or else we wouldn't be doing it.
Exactly.
So it's circular logic.
And I think also there's a social element that makes it fun.
Right? And so we see a lot of like when I teach this in class sometimes we
ask people to brainstorm as
individuals and then combine ideas and then you ask people to do it as a group,
and the people who were working alone look really sad about it,
and the people working in groups even though they end up not being particularly good-
They like it.
They loved it, right. There was a conversation,
there was laughter, they got to connect socially.
And so I think teams fill all of these needs that are
good but not necessarily ones that are conducive to creativity.
And we can confuse sometimes I think the joy,
the fun, the laughter, with the creativity.
Right.
Right? I mean I think we have a view of what creativity is.
Yeah.
It's much more about having these moments and
exciting feelings and the joy and the fun and all that feels that way.
Yeah. So if we're having fun it must be equal creativity.
Yeah.
Because creativity is inherently fun.
That's why all of these sort of failures of logic that lead people to overuse teams.
And I think also in organizational settings there are
benefits to using these brainstorming,
teams that maybe have nothing to do with actually generating ideas.
Sure. We need to get people on board,
and if they were in the meeting where it
happened then they're more likely to feel committed to it.
Right.
They had an opportunity to speak up for that.
Yes. Those are things you're developing by in.
Another thing you're developing a collective memory for solutions that are shared.
And then I remember those maybe for later,
like you saw with the failed adhesive.
If we don't interact, we don't remember
solutions that may crop up later as being very important.
So there are some benefits as well.
Yeah. I guess do
we feel as if the ideas are better because we formed it together in a group,
than if we formed it individually,
because you get that feedback?
Yeah. I think that's part of it too,
is that we go through this processes.
I like that idea. I have really like it too, and so we're in the sense.
Self-approval.
Yeah. The teams are a vehicle for that,
especially if they're used in the context of
this team player mentality that we're taught to adhere to,
right, in which I'm not supposed to criticize you.
We're all supposed to fit in and be happy and support each other which is nice.
Maybe it feels good. But for creativity maybe not such a good thing.
So I guess what I'm getting,
and there are organizations I think that are
famous for using teams for creativity, right?
Yeah.
I guess the one that always comes to mind is Ideo, right?
That they're really well-known for bringing together groups of
people and having those numbers of sticky notes.
And even there, they are to me a bit cynical
about using teams too because what they say is well we use them to
impress our clients and teach our clients about our culture, right?
And so there is an added layer there.
It's not just a technique for creativity,
it's really, it's a political kind of consideration as well.
It's a social influence approach, right?
Look at us we're dazzling.
Right.
Now, go away while we work individually to get this done.
Right.
But there's an element right where
it's not all about what happens in the room with the team.
Right. So hopefully, even though you
might be tempted to over rely on teams at least we've
convinced you that you should be somewhat
skeptical whether or not it's a useful exercise.
Jeffrey LoewensteinAssociate Professor of Organizational Behavior
Jack GoncaloProfessor
