The Yes, And Rule
Improv comedians never say "no, but." They say "yes, and." When teams adopt this single rule for brainstorming, idea volume increases and the ideas that survive are more original.
Most brainstorming sessions fail the same way. Someone shares an idea. Someone else says "that won't work because..." The room recalibrates. People start self-editing before they speak. Within 10 minutes, only the two loudest voices are contributing.
Improv comedy solved this decades ago with one rule: "yes, and." Accept what was just offered, then build on it. Never negate. Never redirect. The first response to any idea must add to it.
Goldenberg and colleagues found that when groups operated under explicit "build on others' ideas" instructions, they generated significantly more ideas AND more original ones. The constraint paradoxically increased creativity. When people know their idea won't be immediately shot down, they take bigger swings.
The hack: For your next team brainstorm, set one rule: the first response to any idea must start with "yes, and." No evaluation, no "playing devil's advocate," no "let me push back." Just building. For 15 minutes. Move evaluation to a separate round afterward.
The ideas won't all be good. That's the point. You need volume before you need quality.
