Collaborative R&D Yields More Breakthroughs, Fewer Failures

The research, authored by Singh and Fleming, challenges prior assumptions that a higher chance of breakthroughs inherently comes with a greater risk of failures. Their analysis demonstrates that collaboration offers a dual benefit: more rigorous selection processes mitigate poor results, while increased recombinant opportunities in creative search drive extreme successes.

Specifically, individuals working alone, particularly those without organizational affiliation, are less likely to achieve breakthroughs and more prone to producing particularly poor inventions. The study further identifies that the diversity of technical experience among team members and the size of their external collaboration networks partially mediate these effects, with experience diversity being more effective at preventing poor outcomes than at generating breakthroughs.