WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS

Walk first,
share later.

Good ideas rarely arrive on command.

Psychology experiments point to a few simple conditions that help: moving, stepping away to something easy, and writing ideas down on your own before the group meets.

MORE IDEAS with less strain

Check your method

A person seen from behind walking along a tree-lined park path on a bright autumn morning, hands in coat pockets — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Take a walk
Take an easy break
Think alone, then pool
Simple conditions for new ideas

THE SHORT ANSWER

Move, pause,
then pool.

Three findings from controlled experiments.
None needs special tools or training.

WALKING

Ideas with legs

In a Stanford experiment, walking on a treadmill raised 81% of participants' scores on a test of thinking up new uses for everyday objects.

See the numbers

GROUPS

Alone, then together

A 1987 review found that in 18 of 22 experiments, people working separately produced more ideas in total than the same number brainstorming aloud together.

Check a method

BREAKS

Step away to something easy

Setting a problem aside helps, and studies suggest an undemanding task that lets the mind wander can help more than a hard one.

How to try it

A QUICK METHOD CHECK

How are you
hunting for ideas?

Pick a way of getting ideas. The bar shows how well the experiments summarised here support it for generating lots of ideas.

Method check

Choose a methodThinking on a walkShouting ideas out as a groupWriting alone, then poolingA break doing something easyA break doing something hard

Thinking on a walkWell supported

Walking increased 81% of participants' scores on an alternate uses test, and people kept a creative boost when they sat down again afterwards.

Shouting ideas out as a groupFewer ideas

Real groups usually produce fewer ideas than the same number working alone. Diehl and Stroebe found that waiting your turn to speak, called production blocking, explained most of the loss.

Writing alone, then poolingMore ideas

Pooling separately generated ideas, a nominal group, out-produced real groups in 18 of the 22 experiments Diehl and Stroebe reviewed.

A break doing something easyHelps

In a 2012 study, an undemanding task during a break led to substantial improvements on problems already seen, compared with a demanding task, rest or no break.

A break doing something hardHelps less

A Lancaster University meta-analysis found that filling a break with high-demand tasks gave a smaller incubation effect.

Sources: Oppezzo and Schwartz (2014); Diehl and Stroebe (1987); Sio and Ormerod (2009); Baird and colleagues (2012).

Based on published experiments and meta-analyses on walking, incubation and brainstorming. Results vary by task and person.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Feet help,
crowds can hinder.

One figure on walking,
one on what happens when a group brainstorms aloud.

81%

Participants whose creative score rose while walking

Walking raised 81% of participants' scores on Guilford's alternate uses test, but only 23% of scores on a test of finding a single right answer.

WALKING · STANFORD, 2014

18 of 22

Experiments where solo work beat real groups

In the experiments they listed, separate individuals out-produced real brainstorming groups in 18. The other 4, all with two-person groups, found no difference.

BRAINSTORMING · DIEHL AND STROEBE, 1987

Brainstorming was popularised by Alex Osborn, who claimed in 1957 that the average person could think up twice as many ideas in a group as alone. The experiments above tested that claim.

FOUR STEPS TO TRY

A better
ideas session.

These steps work for a work project, a birthday plan or a story you are stuck on. They borrow directly from the experiments.

Load the problem first
Spend real time on it before stepping away. Longer preparation gave a bigger incubation effect in the Lancaster review.
Then go for a walk
Outdoors if you can. In the Stanford studies, walking outside produced the most novel and highest quality analogies.
Do something easy
Washing up, tidying or a gentle walk lets the mind wander. Save hard tasks for later.
Write alone, then share
Ask everyone to jot ideas separately before the meeting, then pool and build on them together.

Hands rinsing a mug at a kitchen sink by a sunny window, a notebook and pencil waiting on the counter nearby — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

A small group around a table covered with handwritten index cards, seen from above with only hands visible — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

WHY GROUPS STALL

Waiting your turn
costs ideas.

Osborn's brainstorming rules were simple: the more ideas the better, the wilder the better, combine and improve ideas, and do not criticise. The trouble is not the rules but the turn-taking.

Diehl and Stroebe tested three explanations: free riding, fear of being judged and production blocking. By manipulating blocking directly, they found it accounted for most of the productivity loss in real brainstorming groups.

Questions

Questions people ask

Does walking really make you more creative?

In four Stanford experiments it boosted creative idea generation, both while walking and shortly after. The effect was strongest on open-ended tasks such as listing new uses for an object.

Is group brainstorming a waste of time?

Not for building on ideas, but for producing lots of them it usually falls short. In 18 of 22 experiments, individuals working separately produced more in total than real groups.

What is production blocking?

In a group, only one person can speak at a time, so others hold or lose ideas while they wait. Diehl and Stroebe found it explained most of the shortfall in brainstorming groups.

Does sleeping on a problem help?

The research here looked at incubation breaks rather than sleep. A meta-analysis found a positive incubation effect, strongest for open-ended divergent thinking tasks.

What should I do during a break?

Something undemanding. In a 2012 study, an easy task that let the mind wander improved creative scores more than a demanding task, rest or no break.

Walk first,
share later.