SUMMATION.NET -- If you are a big biography reader, you'll find that most of the super successful entrepreneurs spent a massive amount of time alone when they were kids and young adults. And most of these people still spend a much larger percentage of their time alone today than most outsiders would think.... At an early age, most of the super successful people spent more time play-acting than others.... Reading, watching wonderful movies, listening to music, etc. are passive -- these are consuming functions. Most of the super successful people spent a large percentage of their time creating vs. consuming. They were building things, starting things, etc. ...

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INTROVERTDEAR.COM -- We live in a society where group experience and an extrovert personality are the ideals. It's hardly surprising you'll begin to wonder if there's something wrong with you, just as I did. I did not understand that introversion and shyness are *not* the same thing.... Like many of my fellow introverts, the turning point was Susan Cain's book, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking." Finally, I realized that there is nothing wrong with me. Today, I wouldn't want it any other way. As an introvert, you're probably good at connecting ideas and events and seeing many facets of a problem. You are more likely to think outside the consensus and have original ideas. ...

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[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- BAKADESUYO.COM -- Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, summarizes the science: "Decades of research have consistently shown that brainstorming groups think of far fewer ideas than the same number of people who work alone and later pool their ideas." ... The "evidence from science suggests that business people must be insane to use brainstorming groups," writes the organizational psychologist Adrian Furnham. "If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity or efficiency is the highest priority." ...

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[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- NEWYORKER.COM -- The results of the first test of brainstorming, at Yale in 1958, were a sobering refutation of brainstorming. Solo students came up with twice as many solutions as the brainstorming groups, and their solutions judged more "feasible" and "effective." Decades of research have consistently shown the same. "There's this Pollyannaish idea that the most important thing when working together is staying positive and getting along, to not hurt anyone's feelings. Well, that's just wrong," as a 2003 experiment suggests. Another experiment demonstrated that exposure to unfamiliar perspectives fosters creativity.... Building 20 [at MIT] was a legend and widely regarded as one of the most creative spaces in the world. The lesson, of Building 20, is that when the composition of the group is right -- enough people with different perspectives ...

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FASTCOMPANY.COM -- Eliminating criticism, it turns out, results in worse ideas. Another pillar of brainstorming is that all ideas are good ideas. This is supposed to make participants feel more liberated and therefore, more creative. But [in a study two] groups produced the same amount of good ideas, but interestingly enough the group who didn't put their criticism aside actually produced more ideas. Moreover, the study found that avoiding criticism only added more poor ideas to the list. ...

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