Struggling with creativity in your office? This slide show ‘How Google Works’might give you some ideas. Describing one of the impacts of the Information Revolution it says, “…the power has shifted as well. Individuals and small teams can have a massive impact.”

At Wilkinson Group we’re great believers in collaborative thinking. I first learnt it’s real power at 60 Minutes. Normally journalists like to work solo, and then fight for every word when the editor tries to trim. At 60 Minutes, stories had the creative input of several excellent thinkers with a variety of skills, about seven people.

But there’s a point when the collaborative group becomes too big and the creativity too little.

What’s the critical size? Coincidently, the most creative corporate affairs team I have worked with also had seven members.

An HBR article (which I’ve written about here) recommends the “core innovation group has dropped from a football/soccer eleven to a basketball five”.

So, struggling the creativity? Perhaps trim and tailor instead of grow.