In a broad study at the Carnegie Mellon University (Sept 2010) psychologists have come to the conclusion that the performance of groups solving cognitive tasks is strongly correlated with the social sensitivity and not – as one might think – with the average or maximum individual intelligence of group members. Further factors such as the proportion of females in the group and the equal distribution of participation in conversations were as well influencing the group’s result positively.

According to the study, dominant individuals reduce the collective intelligence. Although the groups in the studies were quite small and in addition meeting in the real world: What’s the implications for the Atizo community and closed business communities of our customers if we’d like to maximize the output?

1. In the community recruiting process focus on socially sensitive groups. They might be found with a higher probability in the fields of education, social welfare, health
2. Get more women! How? The brainstorming process should get more collaborative to attract women. Which brings us to the third point
3. Encourage discussions. Try to avoid discussions amongst certain collaborators only. All should participate.

Source: sciencemag.org

Some random test on the Internet estimates people’s social competence. Mine is 66%, slightly above the average. Don’t fake it!