Group Genius

Group flow requires constant communication. Everyone hates to go to useless meetings; but the kind of communication that leads to group flow ofter doesn’t happen in the conference room. Instead, it’s more likely to happen in freewheeling, spontaneous conversations the hallway, or in social settings after work or at lunch.

The more esprit de corps in the group, the greater the likelihood that groupthink will result in bad decisions. When group cohesiveness is high, everyone gets along; they like each other and like being in the group. The group begins to share a little too much tacit knowledge; if a member challenges the others, he or she is ganged up on – just as the man who quit smoking was. The paradoxical finding is that even though everyone thinks collaboration is wonderful, only certain groups benefit from its power.

Psychologists understand preperation, selection, and elaboration; those are conscious, rational activities. And they’re always deeply social because collaborative groups do the work and make the decisions. But the spark of insight seems uniquely solitary. After all, [Jim] Crocker had his idea in the shower! And [John] Reed was far from Manhattan, all alone on the beach. As it turns out, even the moment of insight, this most private of moments, depends on creative collaboration. The brain itself is suffused with collaboration, and understanding how individual creativity combines with group genius is the key to realising creative potential.