Diversity, interactions, and team creativity: An experimental perspective

Although team creativity has long attracted scholarly interest, few studies have addressed the joint impact of diversity and interpersonal interactions on team creative performance. The present study contributes to the literature by examining the role of diversity in team performance and unpacking the complex effects of networks by distinguishing between in-situ and pre-existing interactions. Additionally, it investigates the relationship between individual and team performance when both are measured experimentally. To this end, we implemented a three- stage experimental protocol within a novel experimental setting including face-to-face interactions among subjects under a controlled environment. The findings show that the effects of diversity, individual performance, network structure, and creativity training on overall team creativity vary depending on the evaluative criterion considered (originality vs. feasibility). Diversity appears to have an overall positive effect on creative performance with the exception of language diversity in the generation of original ideas. Social closeness and frequent interactions help teams converge toward original ideas (and toward feasible ones in the case of frequent interactions), whereas in-situ ties tend to hinder their implementability. • A three-stage lab experiment with a novel experimental setting, featuring face-to-face interactions among subjects under controlled conditions. • Team creativity interplay test with diversity in team performance and unpacking the complex effects of networks by distinguishing between in-situ and pre-existing interactions. • Relationship between individual performance (open, open-with-constraints, and closed tasks) and team creativity (open task). • The effects of diversity, individual performance, network structure, and creativity training on overall team creativity vary depending on the evaluative criterion (originality vs. feasibility). • Social closeness and frequent interactions help teams converge on novel ideas, increasing originality. Frequent interactions also make ideas more implementable (higher feasibility), although emergent in-situ ties can sometimes reduce this implementability.