The papers in this volume can be characterized by a “cohesion–creativity divide.” On one side are scholars who describe the very nature of groups – its norms, interaction patterns, social influence, and hierarchy – as anathema to creativity. On the other side are advocates of cohesion...

Teams should be hotbeds of creativity, yet they may naturally experience many barriers that thwart their ability to generate and select the most creative ideas. We propose that team relational support – a relational process involving the exchange of help, information, advice, and emotional...

In this paper, we introduce the concept of the “glue role” in groups engaged in creative tasks. An individual crafts a glue role by seeking out and taking on otherwise neglected tasks that have the potential to facilitate a creative group's performance. We adopt a negotiated order...

Intuition, along with empirical research, suggests that the generation of creative ideas benefits from divergent thinking among team members. However, the generation of creative ideas represents only one stage of the innovative process; teams also must implement ideas. In this chapter, we...

Team creativity presents an interesting dilemma. On one hand, organizational teams are increasingly being asked to produce creative outcomes rapidly and within tight timelines. On the other hand, teams need sufficient time to explore different perspectives, play with ideas, and overcome the...

In this chapter, we develop a theoretical model of group splits, culture shifts, and creativity in diverse groups. This model explains how the strength of informational faultlines can elicit a culture shift from a desired to an actual culture of creativity in a team, which then might...

In today's knowledge-based economy, the ability to produce highly novel and practical ideas is critical to an organization's survival. This paper draws upon social perspectives of creativity (Perry-Smith & Shalley, 2003) and the vital role of recombinant information in creative development...

A growing literature has recognized the importance of mental simulation (e.g., imagining alternatives to reality) in sparking creativity. In this chapter, we examine how counterfactual thinking, or imagining alternatives to past outcomes, affects group creativity. We explore these effects by...