Perfectionists, Laid-Backs, or a Mix of the Two: Which Team Composition Benefits Failure Learning?

Abstract

The present study elaborates on how conscientiousness composition contributes to explaining whether teams learn from collective failure experiences. Specifically, we combine ideas from the team personality and failure learning literatures to develop hypotheses on how team mean conscientiousness and team conscientiousness diversity contribute to explaining team failure learning. We test our hypotheses based on archival and complementary survey data for a sample of 85 store teams from 20 different bakery companies. In line with our theoretical arguments, the results reveal that teams are more likely to learn from failure experiences when a medium rather than low or high level of team mean conscientiousness is present. Moreover, we find that teams are more likely to learn from failure for subsequent performance when team conscientiousness diversity is low rather than high. We discuss the implications of our study for research on failure learning and team personality and derive practical implications.