Brainstorming under attack: 8 errors in the WSJ. The WSJ has their content behind a wall so their content is not part of the web and so I have not seen their article.

The blog post makes good points about mistaken impressions of brainstorming:

I think both have their place. You pretty much can come up with your own ideas all day long (though it is true we often are too busy doing something to take any time to think but that is a time management choice). Brainstorming is about creating an opportunity to bring new ideas the forefront.

There are other useful tools such as the affinity diagram which can serve as another option (or can serve as a tool to work with the results of brainstorming).

And Edward DeBono has excellent creativity tools, like his 6 thinking hats. Brainstorming is a useful tool when applied properly but it is only one tool and other tools should be used.

• Managing Innovation
• TRIZ - Managing Creativity
• Managing for Creativity