Flexible supply chains are great for multinationals and consumers. But they erode already thin profit margins in developing-world factories and foster a pell-mell work environment in which getting the order out the door is the only thing that matters.
James SurowieckiIn part because individual judgement is not accurate enough or consistent enough, cognitive diversity is essential to good decision making.
James SurowieckiCorporations hope that the right concept will turn things around overnight. This is what you might call the crash-diet approach: starve yourself for a few days and you'll be thin for life.
James SurowieckiDiversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromising. An intelligent group, especially when confronted with cognition problems, does not ask its members to modify their positions in order to let the group reach a decision everyone can be happy with. Insteadโฆthe best way for a group to be smart is for each person in it to think and act as independently as possible.
James Surowiecki