Translating Member Ability Into Group Brainstorming Performance: The Role of Collective Intelligence

In investigating how member ability is translated into group brainstorming performance, it was predicted that a group’s collective intelligence (CI) would enable it to capitalize on member ability while maximizing process gains and mitigating process losses. Ninety-nine groups were randomly assigned to complete a short brainstorming task using a hybrid (individual-group work) or collective (only group work) task structure. High CI groups were better than low CI groups at translating member ability into group brainstorming performance. Additionally, this hybrid structure was more beneficial for low CI groups than for high CI groups in generating total ideas.