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“Does Your Team Have Enough
Women To Solve Creative Problems?”

David Burkus
cSchool Faculty

There’s an old adage that behind every great man is a great(er) woman. It turns out that the same could be said for great teams. Evidence suggests that the number of women on a given team drastically increases that teams ability to solve complex problems. The researchers, led by Anita Williams Wooley of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, were initially examining the concept of collective intelligence – the idea that effective groups tap into a separate intelligence that is different from merely average of the individual intelligence of team members.

The team administered IQ tests to nearly 700 participants and then randomized them into groups of various sizes (between 2 and 5 members). Each of the 192 groups worked together on various tasks, ranging from negotiations to visual puzzles to complex problem solving assignments. Almost all of the assignments required some element of creative thinking. When running the numbers, the researchers found that there was little correlation between the average intelligence of a team and its performance on these tasks. In addition, group cohesion, group motivation, and group satisfaction weren’t correlated with collective intelligence. Most of the expected predictors of team performance failed to correlate with actual collective intelligence. When they dug deeper into what explained performance, however, they discovered a few surprising predictors.

The first was that groups that took turns more frequently in discussions tended to perform better. The teams that shared information more freely and kept one or two individuals from dominating the process scored better across the board.

The second was that higher performance was found in teams with higher social sensitivity – how much individual members paid attention to other members and asked questions instead of assuming opinions or compliance.

The final finding was that the more women on the team, the smarter it was.

The commonly held belief is that teams that are the most diverse tend to perform better. This research, however, implies the more women the better. While the initial study wasn’t designed to examine any gender affect, the correlation between number of women and performance was significant and has since been replicated in two other studies. One possible explanation is that the number of women is also predictive of the level of social sensitivity, the first predictor of team performance. In general, women on teams tend to ask questions more often and allow for a more collective discussion. Many studies show that women score more highly than men in social sensitivity.

If you’re having trouble solving difficult problems with your team and feel like nothing is working, take a look around. Do you have enough women?

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6004/686.abstract

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                     “Creativity and Play”

Kathy Goff, EdD
cSchool Program Director

Learning is more than merely accumulating knowledge; it is also the understanding of how that knowledge can be used. Everything we learn, we learn through our senses. Therefore sensory exploration is essential for developing creative thinking. Play is a basic form of learning by doing and a natural form of stimulation.  Play is a medium for self- expression and creative expression. Play is a creative process and a safe way to try out, explore, experiment and fumble about with ways of learning. Creative play provides opportunities:
• to develop the imagination
• for independent thinking
• for cooperation and communication • for a healthy release of emotions
• to experience freedom of choice
• for health-engendering recreation

Play involves the imagination, active participation and freedom to invent and imitate. Play is a bonding force that satisfies the needs of the individual as well as the group. Imaginative play develops a variety of skills and benefits the following psychosocial areas:
• personal/emotional – enhancing vitality and mental health
• social – strengthening involvements and reducing alienation
• educational – developing the capacity to learn more effectively and to learn in the           broadest sense of the word
• cultural – stimulating the kind of creativity required to meet the challenges of a               changing world

True play creates order; it is teamwork in which people work loosely together. Examples of play can be found in all cultures of the world and on every age level. The impulse to play can become a continuing way of learning, a medium of expression and eventually an art form.

Play is special freedom from stress and the serious nature of life. Even though the form of play may be physically strenuous or mentally demanding, the process of play is refreshing and revitalizing.  The fact that play is enjoyed is one of the main reasons why it is conducive to health.  Play is a recognized quality of mental health and has the potential for maintaining it. There must be a balance of play and work for a healthy life.

Some adults have an unusual definition of play and only allow themselves to “play” when they are under the influence of some mind-altering substance, drugs, food or alcohol. For some reason these adults are afraid of their inner child and need some excuse, such as “I was high,” or “I was drunk,” or “I have to eat” to justify their creative expressions. This is a dangerous situation because it leads to lower and lower self- esteem. Adults, as well as children and youth, must be able to find healthy ways to play in order to have rich, full, joyful, productive lives. Playfulness is a healthy means of expressing ourselves creatively and enjoying life at all ages.