Journal entry#7

I read the Article “brainstorming myth” by Jonah Lehrer I found it to be really interesting. In the beginning of the article it talks about how in the late nineteen forties Alex Osborn decided to write a book on how effective working in teams could be. As I am reading the first few paragraphs I can’t help but to agree with the idea that when you work with a group of people that listen to you and don’t shut you down you are more open to discuss your ideas. I thought that working in groups would help someone who is shy speak up a little more because they can bounce back ideas from each other. I also thought that brainstorming was a great way to get your mind thinking by hearing what others have to say. I was in shock when I continued to read and they said that Brainstorming does not work. The reason why I found this hard to believe because if it doesn’t work then why do we continue to use this system. According to a study done at Yale University there was a group of twenty five students that had to follow team brainstorming and another group that did brainstorming on their own. To my surprise the group who worked individually was the one who came up with the most effective ideas. The same study has been done many times before and they still end up with the same conclusion “it doesn’t work”. In my opinion I don’t think that working in groups is completely ineffective there are pros and cons to it like everything in life. I personally don’t have a problem working alone or in a group I think everyone should try brainstorming both ways to see which one works best for them.