Improve Creative Brainstorming With Constructive Criticism [CREATIVITY]

Does criticism help or hinder creativity in brainstorming? It depends on the context.

- JARED R. CURHAN

Anyone who has ever participated in a group brainstorming session knows the ground rules: Focus on quantity, not quality. Be open to far-fetched, outlandish ideas. And above all, don’t criticize. Those principles were conceived in the late 1940s by Alex Osborn, a partner at the esteemed New York City advertising agency BBDO and the unofficial godfather of brainstorming. Osborn believed — and numerous studies back him up — that to maximize creativity, brainstorming should be freewheeling and nonjudgmental. “Creativity,” he said, “is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud.”

Recent research, however, has cast doubt on Osborn’s “no criticism” rule. A growing number of studies show that criticism might actually heighten creativity and imagination. Forcing participants to suspend judgment about the quality of ideas during brainstorming could in fact stifle free thinking and expression.

So does criticism help or hinder creativity in brainstorming? My colleagues Tatiana Labuzova, Aditi Mehta, and I set out to resolve this debate. Our research (Curhan, Labuzova, and Mehta, Organization Science, April 28, 2021) suggests that the answer depends on the brainstorming context — either cooperative or competitive.

The Effect of Criticism on Brainstorming