A different perspective: The multiple effects of deep level diversity on group creativity

• The assumption that deep diversity improves creativity in groups is rarely tested.
• I demonstrate that groups with deep diversity fail to build on and integrate one another's ideas.
• This leads to products with less creatively elaborated and integrated ideas.
• Deep diversity can create both benefits and challenges to group creativity.

Although generally accepted in the literature on group diversity, the view that groups can improve their creativity by drawing on the diverse perspectives of group members has received surprisingly limited examination or empirical support. This paper considers the role of deep level diversity in group creativity, highlighting that while deep diversity may improve divergent processes in groups, it may also hamper groups' ability to converge around creative ideas. Two experimental studies demonstrate that deep level diversity leads to less creatively elaborated and integrated ideas. In addition, the studies revealed that when groups must converge around a single output, the challenges of deep level diversity outweigh the benefits of divergent idea generation. A detailed analysis of the interactions of 27 groups finds that this effect occurs because deep diversity changes a group's creative process. This study contributes to our understanding of the creative process in groups with detailed analysis of video-taped group interactions. It challenges the assumed advantages of deep level diversity to group creativity, and suggests that the brainstorming process that groups are typically advised to use to promote creativity may not be the best way to develop creative final output.