Teams That Innovate: The Language of Difference-Driven Inquiry at the Workplace

Craig Moreau Carnegie Mellon University

Abstract

Leveraging a team’s diverse perspectives can be a powerful way to foster team innovation. A common approach to leverage team differences involves tool-based approaches, including brainstorming, mind-mapping, and whiteboarding. However, the effective use of ideational tools as a means to innovation often assumes high levels of team cohesion and productivity—dynamics that may not be safe to assume, especially in teams with high levels of diversity. This study investigates how workplace teams at a Biotech company use discourse to innovate, and in doing so, instantiate a larger rhetorical practice known as difference-driven inquiry.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2020-12-01
DOI
10.1177/2329490620949864
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Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Written Communication
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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  1. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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