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The better way to ideate - principles behind Pass The Idea™

1. creativity is a skill that everybody can improve through practice 

5. conventional brainstorming groups think of far fewer ideas vs. the same number of people working alone and later pooling their ideas

9. privacy and freedom from interruption drive creativity - pressure doesn't
2. good ideas are not the privilege of a few gifted individuals

6. topic fixation, social inhibition and social loafing can severely compromise results of a brainstorm and block the brain's ability to generate novel ideas

10. "the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas, and throw away the bad ones" (Linus Pauling) 

3. everybody can create good ideas with the right support & process

7. brain writing by individually working on ideas and then passing to another is proven to be far more effective

11. many creative people are introverts and don't enjoy face2face group interaction or being dominated by extroverts
4. for effective ideation, collaborative webs are more important than creative individuals

8. group genius happens when the brains in a team do not contain the same stuff but the skills are complimentary – diversity & compatibility

12. group sessions after individual sessions is the optimal ideation sequence

Watch Steven Johnson explaining some of the basics driving Pass The Idea™

  • the role of incubation & slow hunches
  • the importance of ideas collision & exchange
  • why connectivity and networking are crucial


Key sources

  • Kohn, Smith; Effect of others' ideas on brainstorming (2010)
  • Sawyer: Group Genius. The Creative Power of Collaboration (2007)
  • Stefik; Breakthrough: Stories and Strategies of Radical Innovation (2004)
  • Nadler, Hibino; Breakthrough Thinking (1998)
  • Guzzo, Dickson; Annual Review of Psychology 47 (1996)
  • Dennis, Valacich: Journal of Applied Psychology 78, no 4 (1993)
  • Diehl, Stroebe; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53; no 3 (1987)
  • Weisskopf-Joelson, Eliseo; Journal of Applied Psychology 45; no 1 (1968)
  • Taylor, Berry, Block; Administrative Science Quarterly 3; no 1 (1958)