When building a team, the question often arises as to whether diversity can help, especially when that team is asked to develop creative solutions. A recent study by Chen and colleagues examined how functional diversity—differences in expertise and perspectives—affects team creativity. The result? It’s more complex than you might think.

The researchers focused on two-person teams that had to create creative uses for an empty space in a university building. Some teams were homogeneous, with members from the same department, while others came from different disciplines. During these brainstorming sessions, they looked not only at the proposals themselves but also at what was happening in the team members’ brains. To do this, they used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which measures brain activity.

The results? Teams with diverse backgrounds came up with more original and unique ideas. The problem was that these ideas were often less practical. More homogeneous teams had the opposite: less original but more valuable solutions. This has to do with the way our brains work. Diverse teams encourage divergent thinking—the ability to think outside the box—but sometimes that comes at the expense of convergent thinking or the refinement and concretization of ideas.

If you’re looking for radical innovation, choose a diverse team. A homogeneous team can work better if you’re looking for a practical solution. So it’s not a matter of diversity being better. It’s a matter of aligning your team with the goal you want to achieve.

This research opens the door to a better understanding of how teams function and how we can stimulate creativity. It also shows that even our brain activity is affected by who’s at the table. It is a fascinating glimpse into the creative black box of team composition.

Abstract of the study:

Variation in functional expertise is an important decision that managers face when designing teams tasked with being creative. We develop theory that predicts that functional diversity has countervailing effects on team creativity through its positive (negative) effect on the uniqueness (usefulness) of the proposals generated. We conduct an experiment where functionally homogeneous or heterogeneous two-person teams are tasked with proposing a creative use for an unused university space. We measure the uniqueness, usefulness, and overall creativity of team proposals. We also use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging technology to investigate the underlying team cognitive processes. Measured outcomes and fNIRS data support our predictions. Combining conventional experiment and advanced neuroimaging techniques, our study informs theory and practice by providing evidence of how functional diversity affects team creativity.