Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, which is comprised of hundreds of companies, regularly gathers his executives in person and asks them to share stories.

Branson said, “telling a story is one of the best ways we have of coming up with new ideas.”

He has found this practice so powerful that he sets time aside every year for company retreats to position his organization to have a surge of creativity.

If you want ideas on how you can do this for your company, check out this podcast episode with Carol Kavanaugh-Arrington, The Power of In-Person Meetings.