Do you think people are more creative alone or together? It’s an interesting question and one worth thinking about. It turns out that your brain doesn’t care because both are equally important.
In a recent Fast Company article, “Are People More Creative Alone or Together? Trick Question,” authors Judah Pollack and Olivia Fox Cabane look at the research and say the way to maximize creative potential is to flow between being alone and being in a group – in that order.
Key Points from the Article:
- The brain’s “default mode network,” which is active during solitude and daydreaming, plays a crucial role in creative thinking. New ideas and experiences from social interactions can stimulate the default mode network, leading to creative breakthroughs.
- The most effective approach to creativity involves alternating between solitude and collaboration. Research showed that groups alternating between individual and collaborative work produced 71% more ideas than other methods.
- The article introduces a structured brainstorming technique involving short alternating periods of individual ideation and group sharing. This alternating approach allows the brain to switch between two forms of thought necessary for creativity.
- The ongoing debate about whether people are more creative alone or in groups have conflicting views from different perspectives. But introverts and extroverts are both right. What they really need is to sit together and chat it out, then go be alone again, and rinse, repeat.
What are your thoughts on collaboration and brainstorming?
