The study found that members of diverse teams typically gravitate to those who have something in common, and tend to discuss those similarities—which is bad for problem-solving and reaching high-quality decisions.
“The conventional wisdom is that diverse teams have an advantage over homogenous ones, but these findings show diverse teams are even less likely to talk about the differences that are at the root of their advantage,” DeChurch said. “Diversity can only be an asset when unique perspectives are openly shared with the team.”