Your Conference Room Kills Ideas
Nietzsche said, “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” He may have been onto something, even if you’re just trying to come up with a better subject line, not the next Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Creativity fuels success, but most ideation sessions are where good ideas go to die as they’re smothered in buzzwords, post-its, and forced enthusiasm. And while evidence-based creativity training can work, it’s slow, expensive, and often falls apart without motivation or follow-through.
There’s a faster, cheaper, better path: go for a walk.
Researchers at Stanford tested this with a straightforward experiment. Participants were assigned to four conditions—walking or sitting at Time 1 and Time 2—while completing a standard creativity test (Guilford’s Alternative Uses task).
The chart shows the number of novel ideas participants generated. Walking boosted creative output significantly more than sitting and the effect lingered. Those who walked first and sat second still performed like walkers in round two.
And they tested indoor vs. outdoor walking. The difference? Marginal. A stroll down the hallway, on a treadmill, or around the block all did the trick.
The takeaway: Forget the brainstorm, take a lap. Your brain will thank you.
Kevin
One response to “Your Conference Room Kills Ideas”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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100% agree. You’ve also reminded me of something Marcelo Iniarra used to do with his clients in Argentina: cycle storming! Cycling, talking, discussing ideas in the park. The combination of movement and green spaces is powerful stuff.