#ThinkfullyHabit: Go solo and social
Do we get our best ideas alone or in groups?
When we’re alone our minds are free to wander and we can mull over ideas without distraction from others. We’re also freed from the constraints and problems of groups, such as not being able to express ideas equally, being prone to Groupthink if there’s not the diversity of views in the room, and worrying about the balance of introverts and extroverts, along with other group dynamic issues.
However, if we only grapple with ideas individually, we may miss opportunities for new ideas that are sparked after being exposed to the ideas of others. These sparks may not have happened if we’d been alone. Equally, we may also miss the opportunity to get people together and feeling involved in the same shared issue.
Therefore, as with many things in life, the question is not which one is better. It’s not an either/or. It’s that we should have solo time and social time; particularly if we’re grappling with complex issues.
“The way to maximize creative potential is to flow between being alone and being in a group, and back again.”
WHY?
If we alternative between solo ideas and sharing ideas, we can get the best of both worlds. We can get the benefits of mulling things over without distraction when we’re solo, and we can get the benefits of involving people together in the same shared issue and sparking new ideas between people when we’re sharing.
Paul Paulus, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington, conducted an experiment* to look at whether being alone or in a group impacted on ideas.
- The first group wrote down ideas in a group and then went and built off those ideas individually.
- The second group wrote ideas down individually and then brought them together in to the group.
- The third group wrote down ideas individually, then came together to share their ideas, then went again to build those ideas individually and then, yet again, re-joined the group (i.e. alternating between solo and social).
The first group who started as a group and then went to individually develop the ideas produced 37% more ideas than the second group (suggesting it is better to start as a group and then continue individually). But, the third group who alternated between solo and social produced 71% more ideas per person. Interestingly in this experiment he got people to write down rather than verbalise their ideas within the group setting, which can also help with making sure ideas are not tangled with group dynamics.
So next time you’re brainstorming in a group of people – find some solo time within it. Take 5 mins for individuals to absorb what the group ideas have been so far and then give people the chance to see what additional ideas they individually have. Alternatively, get the group together to share initial ideas and task people to go away and think about it and bring further ideas back at the next meeting. Either way, it’s worth avoiding the scenario of only getting people together once to brainstorm and calling that a good job done – it flies in the face of how our brains work best!