What’s Your Q Factor?

Why too much chumminess and too little friction are bad for business

Common sense says it’s good to nurture teams, help them grow over time to be more aligned, efficient and well-connected. But recent research by Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern, says too much alignment hurts creativity and innovation. Here’s why:

Using the world of Broadway as a model, where success equals dollars and producers like to bank on big-name, sure-win composers, lyricists, choreographers and the like, Brian did a study of 474 productions and developed the “Q Factor,” a five-point scale of interconnectedness between team members (higher Q = more connection, lower = less) and its relationship to success.

So what’s the right “Q?”

As you’d imagine, the successful broadway shows didn’t emerge from teams of newcomers (Q < 1.7) — these artists didn’t know each other and struggled to work together. Conversely, groups of brilliant, chummy, top-line talent (Q > 3.2) — the inner circle of “the best” — didn’t birth hits either, since the artists thought in too similar ways, stifling new thinking.

The sweet spot? Between 2.4 and 2.6 — a good balance of like-mindedness and friction. Some old friends, some newbies. Shows produced by these teams — with a familiar structure to rely on but also a good influx of different thinking — were three times more successful than the rest.

The implications for your business?

As any organization grows, it’s easy to hire from within, promote “known entities,” foster esprit de corps. But, if Broadway is any measure, it takes just as much diversity as harmony to achieve success.

How about your company? What’s your Q factor?

Ref: Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem — Brian Uzzi & Jarrett Spiro

Originally published at www.dangerouskitchen.com on July 2, 2013.