[2021-04-12] Embarrassing stories

Many years ago, I went to see a specialist in infectious diseases for a recurring health problem that had stumped a few doctors. As the specialist was prodding my neck, he casually asked, "Do you have CATS?"

Several thoughts flashed through my mind: OMG, that's what I have: CATS. I don't know what that is, but I'm relieved that someone has finally figured out my problem.

Out loud, and with some fear in my voice, I asked: "What's that?"

He replied, with some bewilderment, "You know—meow!"

I told that story to a few colleagues when I got back to work, and my tale was quickly repeated. I didn't mind, as it was funny, and I knew it could happen to anyone.

It turns out that sharing embarrassing stories is a useful precursor to brainstorming. In Research: For Better Brainstorming, Tell an Embarrassing Story, professor Leigh Thompson shared the results of an experiment that she and colleagues conducted to see whether participants could be primed to do better brainstorming. They assigned one of two warm-up exercises to different groups. They asked participants in half the groups to describe a time when they had felt embarrassed and the other half to share a story about when they had felt proud. Their hypothesis was that after telling an embarrassing story, participants would be less inhibited and more creative. And that's exactly what the researchers found. In the subsequent brainstorming activity, the teams that had shared embarrassing anecdotes outperformed those that had shared proud moments. Thompson explained:

My colleagues and I carefully watched these conversations unfold. The people told to embarrass themselves were initially taken off-guard and even apprehensive. But inevitably someone would jump in ("OK, I’ll go first….") and, within minutes, the trios were laughing uproariously. The people told to boast had, by contrast, no trouble starting their conversations and appeared more composed. However, there was little laughter and only a few polite head nods on the teams.

She and her colleagues concluded that "Candor led to greater creativity." They proposed to add a new tool to the brainstorming toolbox: "Tell a self-deprecating story before you start. As uncomfortable as this may seem, especially among colleagues you would typically want to impress, the result will be a broader range of creative ideas."

The existing brainstorming toolbox, wrote Thompson, was created by Alex Osborn, an American advertising executive, who coined the term brainstorming. Osborn recommended four rules for brainstorming:
  • share any ideas that come to mind;
  • build on the ideas of others;
  • avoid criticism; and
  • strive for quantity, not quality.
Subsequent research confirmed the soundness of these four rules and added four more:
  • stay focused on the task at hand;
  • don’t just say an idea, explain it;
  • when ideas run dry, restate the problem and encourage more thinking; and
  • prompt those not talking to contribute.
Once we’ve shared an embarrassing story and been accepted by our colleagues despite the less-than-flattering tale, we’re more likely to be willing to be vulnerable and to throw out all sorts of ideas, even ones that might seem a little out there. Whether as a precursor to brainstorming, a discussion between fellow patients, or a conversation with a doctor, sharing an embarrassing story could unlock all sorts of exchanges.