The Science of Collaboration
This study spans five years of work in the Center for Design Research (CDR) at Stanford University and was the subject of my dissertation. I explored using cognitive (intrinsic) diversity as a basis for forming high-performing innovative teams, whereas extrinsic indicators are most often used in practice. Broad-scope, open-ended problem solving (such as design) requires a high amount of cognitive ability from team members. Increasing intrinsic diversity may create the precondition for “metacognitive conflict” that manifests itself (in the best case) as “creative abrasion.” Our findings suggest that intrinsic characteristics do reliably influence individual behaviors that emerge during team interactions. We also find evidence of longitudinal links between the cognitive composition of the team, emergent team dynamics and long-term innovative performance.
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