This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam.

Think about the last time you are part of a brainstorming session.

We just need to brainstorm five ideas.

But to be safe, let's come up with 50.

Maybe this was at work, or at a planning meeting for a community organization.

Just want to emphasize there's no bad ideas here.

We're just brainstorming. Many people probably suggested ideas.

Many people probably suggested ideas.

Perhaps there was some discussion about which proposal was best.

At the end, maybe everyone voted on the best idea.

If your meeting was like most meetings, there was probably one kind of idea that was in

short supply.

How to do less?

I remember a brainstorming session some years ago

where colleagues filled an entire wall with Post-it notes.

When I looked at the Post-it wall later on, I was struck that almost none of the notes

suggested that the organization could streamline projects or stop doing things that weren't

working. All the ideas were about expansion, new projects. Today we ask why we

often ignore one of the most powerful paths to innovation. When less is more this week on Hidden Brain. Humans are curious and inventive creatures.

Give us a problem and we will come up with solutions.

Usually this is a marvelous skill. problem and we will come up with solutions.

Usually, this is a marvelous skill.

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