Comments on: Groups Solve Problems Better Than Individuals?

By: association

association — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:08:59 +0000

It is understandable why groups are better than single minds. They discuss, they put together pieces of information and their ideas, they reach to the best decision by providing answers to different questions, while a single person can be wrong even if he thinks his solution is the best one.

By: laurence haughton

laurence haughton — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 19:47:47 +0000

If only it were anything close to that simple.

Who’s an expert? How do you select one? How do you use a small group and avoid group think (or the “counting horse” bias)? And crowds… how do you seperate the wheat from the chaff?

As to this research… they used problems where there is “one” right answer. That’s not the case in business. Nor is failing to have the right answer the sole reason that an answer fails.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:07:45 +0000

David,
I think that is a great start. The key is understanding what kind of problem you have.

By: DavidG

DavidG — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 16:55:26 +0000

Strong parallel to your earlier post about experts v. crowds. Who is best at what might not be so hard to tease out.
Try this hypothesis …
1) Need expertise? Use an expert.
2) Need a decision? Use a small team.
3) Need an opinion? Use a crowd.
Where;
1) expertise is the single BEST way of solving a problem,
2) decision is the optimal of multiple potential solutions and,
3) opinion is an unproven solution, most likely to succeed.

By: Razib Ahmed

Razib Ahmed — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 16:21:09 +0000

I feel that for some people working in a group can be a disaster. I love indivualism and freedom associated with it. Most of the, when I have worked in a group, I have ran into problem. So, for me it does not work out well. I just feel that working in a group takes away much of my energy.

By: anna

anna — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:36:23 +0000

Its better to work in groups as many ideas will flood in. The more the better. But u cant underestimate the power of individual mind. Ya it might be tricky to use groups for solving problems. Depending upon the problem.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:32:49 +0000

Either you didn’t read the book, or you didn’t read the research I linked to, because they are incompatible. The “wisdom of crowds” only works when crowd members act independent of each other. When they work together they usually fail. A better model would be Robert Wright’s “Nonzero” which says that humans work well in groups when they plan nonzero sum games and all parties benefit.

By: kbzimm

kbzimm — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:00:14 +0000

See: The Wisdom of Crowds, published in 2004.