Why are teams popular? In short, because we believe they are effective. “A team of people happily committed to the project and to one another will outperform a brilliant individual every time,” writes Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard.1 In some ways, he’s right. Teams can sometimes achieve feats an individual could never accomplish.2 Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than traditional departments or other forms of permanent groups can be. They can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband. They are an effective means to democratize organizations and increase employee involvement. And finally, research indicates that our involvement in teams positively shapes the way we think as individuals, introducing a collaborative mind-set about even our own personal decision making.3

The fact that organizations have embraced teamwork doesn’t necessarily mean teams are always effective. Team members, being human, can be swayed by fads and herd mentality that can lead them astray from the best decisions. What conditions affect their potential? How do members work together? Do we even like teams? Maybe not. To answer these questions, let’s first distinguish between groups and teams.