A Perfect Brainstorm

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Whatever you do, it's essential that the goal be quantity, not quality, researchers agree. Studies of the most creative people in history--such as Einstein or Edison--have shown that geniuses develop their most innovative ideas when they are generating the greatest number of ideas. So set your goals high: If you need a single good solution, look for 100 ideas.

Usually that's not a problem. In most brainstorming sessions, ideas come fast and furious. Then, people hit a wall and figure they're done. But research shows that's seldom the case. "They've just a hit a space in their brain," Paulus says. "You can't believe the stuff that's still in there." The trick is to give the mind a break, then set it down another path. In one experiment, Paulus had one group brainstorm for 36 minutes, with a six-minute break about midway. Another group brainstormed for 36 minutes straight. The first group generated 66% more ideas--and many of them came after the break, Paulus says.

Bad Ideas

It's often said that there's no such thing as a bad idea. Of course, that's just a polite fiction. In reality, there is no end of bad ideas. But the truth behind the cliché is that when brainstorming, you should be generating, not evaluating, ideas. Save that for later. Just make sure you don't keep pushing it off forever.

In fact, many companies that are great at coming up with ideas are lousy at evaluating and implementing them, says Deborah Ancona, a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management who studies creative process in teams. "Brainstorming is important, but only a small part of the story," she says. "You need to take an idea and create an actual product." If you don't, you'll discourage people the next time that you ask them to crack open their brains and get to work. Remember Digital River's entrepreneurs council? When it decides to pursue an idea, someone is made accountable, resources are allocated, and there are regular progress reports, says CEO Ronning. "You can get the idea, but if you can't get the culture that's going to support it, what's the point?" he asks. The perfect brainstorm, it seems, is only as good as what comes after it.

Sidebar: Cleaning Up

It's one of the great mysteries of creativity: Why do the best ideas always arrive in the shower?

You're in the shower, lathering up, when bam! inspiration strikes--the perfect marketing plan, the solution to your HR woes, or a new and fabulous way to raise money rockets into your brain. The next thing you know, you're streaking through your house all sudsy, frantically searching for something to write with, lest the idea slip away.

Why is it that the best ideas always seem to arrive in the shower? It's certainly not a recent phenomenon. In ancient Greece, the great mathematician Archimedes was enjoying a soak in the tub when he figured out a method for determining whether a crown was made of pure gold. He was so excited, legend has it, that he ran through the streets of Athens naked, screaming "Eureka!" ("I have found it").

So what's the deal? Is there something magical about the water, the soap, the steam? Scientists have a few theories. "Creativity requires an attitude that is a paradoxical blend of attention and relaxation," explains Joshua Coleman, a San Francisco-based clinical psychologist. As it happens, the shower is a near-perfect place to cultivate such an attitude. As we scrub, "our minds revert to a sort of neutral state in which we are receptive to issues or themes that bother us or that are unresolved," says Steven M. Smith, a cognitive psychologist at Texas A&M. In other words, the mind begins to wander aimlessly, which makes it easier to entertain less-than-serious thoughts. In most cases, these playful thoughts lead to nothing, and you leave the shower all wet. But on occasion, you'll hit on something really great.

There's nothing particularly magical about the shower itself. But it is a place where we perform a relatively mindless and simple activity. This lack of anxiety is what helps kick out good ideas in the shower. It's similar to what psychologists have discovered in treating sexual dysfunction, says Coleman. "Some of the techniques developed by Masters and Johnson are designed to help the individual shut off that part of the mind that is trying too hard to solve the problem," he says. "If men or women think too much about their performance, their performance suffers. In other words, the analytical part of the mind can shut down the spontaneous part--in the same way that a critical parent can shut down a child's play." Free from performance anxiety as you bathe, your mind is free to be creative.

Also, because you're presumably showering alone, you're in a personal space, free from negative feedback, quizzical stares, and other distractions. For most people, in fact, the shower is the only place where they are totally alone with their own thoughts.

To achieve that relaxed state of mind, it's important to be removed from the context in which your problem occurs, Smith says. So if your company makes shower heads, shower caps, soap, or bubble bath, the shower may not be the same relaxing place that it is for the rest of us. You'll have to find another place to be private, get relaxed, and let your mind wander. Clothing is optional.

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