When leaders, consultants and managers require ideas, they automatically tend to herd people into a room and conduct a (usually ineffective) brainstorming session. One reason for their ineffectiveness is a failure to consider the impact of group size.
There is a pervasive belief that creativity is enhanced in larger groups. However, significant data indicates that large groups are detrimental to creative output. Some of the arguments against large groups are:
a) The sum of ideas produced by individuals acting alone is greater than the sum of ideas produced by those same individuals when acting as a group.
b) Large groups dilute ideas.
c) Symptoms of group think increase as a group gets larger due to the illusion of invulnerability, unquestioned belief in the group's morality and rationalisation by collective justification of decisions.
d) As group size increases, the percentage of individual performance decreases. A single person is 95% engaged in a task, two people are each 90% engaged and the decline increases until it evens out at about 15 members to around 30%.
e) Groups of three to five elicit much more conformity than just one or two.
f) Large groups increase levels of evaluation apprehension and social loafing.
g) Large groups result in core and peripheral members, restricting information flow.
h) Conflict is inevitable as group size increases, causing sub-group formation and politicking.
i) Large groups create sub-groups with conflicting identitites and goals.
j) Large groups introduce time inefficiencies. 30 individuals can work on 30 problems and produce 150 ideas (30 x 5) in the same time that 1 group working on 1 problem produces 5 ideas (1 x 5).
The above and other data suggests that group size should be kept small. But there are also benefits to large groups such as a high degree of intellectual cross pollination, a high degree of competency exchange and radical frame-breaking. And what are the pros and cons of individuals working alone and in pairs?
This topic is covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com. You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop, MBA
**********************************
You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.
Ashton group transportation logistics management ..Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, "Talk to... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
One of the best lessons I have learned is the... Read More
From the moment he putted with Bob Hope on the... Read More
A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some... Read More
Are workers telling the truth when they say they are... Read More
A follow-up companion reader to The 17 Indisputable Laws of... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
Several years ago I took an assignment as a Manager... Read More
There are few industries or service type businesses, which are... Read More
Giving gifts to your co-workers or your employees can be... Read More
If you own a franchise you would be wise to... Read More
Sometimes the greatest challenges lay not within the actions of... Read More
Teams are often useful in situations where the task cannot... Read More
Winning teams aren't created by accident. Rather, the team or... Read More
We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving... Read More
Today, most of us have been involved in a team... Read More
The company picnic is a beloved tradition at many firms.It's... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More
In days past, loyalty was a given. The worker in... Read More
People who lead the best teams realise early on that... Read More
Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More
Consensus is the appropriate decision strategy for the most important... Read More
The first in a series of articles giving a slightly... Read More
group transportation logistics management Highland ..Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More
"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More
CREATE A MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE: Create a climate where others find... Read More
It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More
When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More
TEAM LEADERS WORKSHOPAlice asked Cheshire cat "which road should I... Read More
Did you know your work environment can actually make you... Read More
A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More
Turbulent TwistersYou've read about it in the headlines and experienced... Read More
A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some... Read More
Winning teams aren't created by accident. Rather, the team or... Read More
Recently while waiting for our lunch to be served in... Read More
Having experienced more than my fair share of conflict over... Read More
Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More
1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number... Read More
The ability to build effective teams is a must for... Read More
Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More
Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More
Recently, while developing a customer service program, I asked my... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More
Most believe that leadership is an innate quality that some... Read More
For a brief time, I tried to sell life insurance.... Read More
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Just today my partner Russ and I sat down to... Read More
Team Building |