Flutterby™! : Brainstorming

The New Yorker: Brainstorming Doesn't Really Work:

The first empirical test of Osborn’s brainstorming technique was performed at Yale University, in 1958. Forty-eight male undergraduates were divided into twelve groups and given a series of creative puzzles. The groups were instructed to follow Osborn’s guidelines. As a control sample, the scientists gave the same puzzles to forty-eight students working by themselves. The results were a sobering refutation of Osborn. The solo students came up with roughly twice as many solutions as the brainstorming groups, and a panel of judges deemed their solutions more “feasible” and “effective.” ...

Continued reading at least 'til the point where they talk about debate and criticism increasing the productive output of such sessions far more than acceptance of all suggestions.