The Vital Few: Exploring the Role of Expertise in the Process of Team Creativity

Abstract

This study provides insight into the role of expertise in the process of team creativity. Existing process models, that is, the random variation model and the creative synthesis model, either fail to treat team as an independent creative entity or neglect the differentiation in the voice of individual members in team creative process. In contrast, this study recognizes the role of expertise in shaping the process of team creativity and presents an alternative model, the vital few model (experts as “vital few”). An agent‐based simulation was designed to examine the validity of this model. Agent teams generated team creativity both more efficiently and effectively when expertise was employed to reorganize existing knowledge and integrate new knowledge. The results indicate that the vital few model is a more explanatory model compared to the existing models for the process of team creativity. Discussion focuses on contributions of the vital few model, limitations of this study, as well as directions for future research.

Creativity in Adulthood

“…Even someone who is a highly original thinker will probably fail without communicating effectively with other team-members or when being unable to accept constructive critique. At the same though, individual-level factors explain a far more substantial portion of companies' effectiveness that it is usually assumed (Mollick, 2012), and a vital few experts within the team can create a difference that leads to creative successes (Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Collaborative Musical Creativity between Students and Adults: The Sonorous Paella

“…In the same vein, Tan et al (2019) stated that research and practice in musical creativity require shared efforts between students and educators. Furthermore, researchers have suggested that musical creativity is even more likely to emerge when students collaborate with various experts (Zhang, Li, & Yan, 2020).…”