Comfortable, but not too comfortable.
The New Yorker examines brainstorming, noting that its supportive, considerate framework doesn’t work since it lacks dissent:
Dissent stimulates new ideas because it encourages us to engage more fully with the work of others and to reassess our viewpoints. “There’s this Pollyannaish notion that the most important thing to do when working together is stay positive and get along, to not hurt anyone’s feelings,” she says. “Well, that’s just wrong. Maybe debate is going to be less pleasant, but it will always be more productive. True creativity requires some trade-offs.
I walked away from brainstorming years ago after realizing it was a group preening exercise. My preferred approach is to brief my team, have them go away and think, and return to debate their findings.
As for teams, the New Yorker quotes sociologist Brian Uzzi, who studied why some Broadway productions failed while others succeeded:
“The best Broadway teams, by far, were those with a mix of relationships,” Uzzi says. “These teams had some old friends, but they also had newbies. This mixture meant that the artists could interact efficiently—they had a familiar structure to fall back on—but they also managed to incorporate some new ideas. They were comfortable with each other, but they weren’t too comfortable.
I’ve noticed this with my favorite filmmakers. They’ll typically fall into a long-term relationship with their D.O.P, editor, and composer, but change-up the screenwriters, production designers, and co-producers.
Comfortable, but not too comfortable.
