Brainstorming, Brainstorming Rules and Decision Making

This study investigated the effect of brainstorming experience on the ability of groups to subsequently select the best ideas for implementation. Participants generated ideas either alone or in interactive groups and with either the regular brainstorming rules or with additional rules designed to further increase the number of ideas generated. All participants subsequently were asked to select their top five ideas in a group evaluation phase. Groups of individuals generating ideas in isolation (nominal groups) generated more ideas and more original ideas and were more likely to select original ideas during the group decision phase than interactive group brainstormers. Additional rules increased idea generation but not idea originality or idea selection.