Team Creativity

Source: CPA Managing Partner Report, December 2004.

When putting together a team to create ideas, consider using people whose knowledge and skills differ from one another. They may be less cost-effective, but more inventive.  A Harvard study found that homogeneous teams were more productive, but less likely to come up with groundbreaking ideas. If you decide on a heterogeneous team, choose members based on the depth, rather than the breadth, of their knowledge and be prepared to tolerate more failure before groundbreaking ideas are developed.

For more, see CPA Managing Partner Report, December, 2004, p. 4.