Diversity. If everybody comes in thinking the same way about a problem, then forming a group is pointless. A room of one hundred Nates (a scary thought!) is going to come to pretty much exactly the same conclusion that one Nate does, only they’ll probably have become more hardheaded and inflexible about it by constantly agreeing with one another. So you want people with a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets as part of your group.* Independence. People need to be able to share ideas and dissent openly, without fear of reprisal. Otherwise, the most powerful members of a group
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