Organising People for Ideas, Taking Your Annual Leave, and the Mid-Career Crisis

Cognicent | 26, March, 2025 | Newsletter

Welcome to the March edition of our Insight Articles!

This edition takes a look at fascinating insights into team dynamics and well-being. From how you can organise people to help them generate the best ideas, the importance of using your annual leave (we are looking at you, Bryan, with your 180 days accrued leave), to the very real concept of a mid-career crisis, these studies offer valuable takeaways for both personal and professional growth.

When we consider how best to generate effective and creative ideas within a group, there are many different perspectives. Some like a collaborative approach with many people involved, while others prefer smaller groups working more independently.

In a study from Binghamton University, researchers sought to answer the question “In generating ideas, which is better – larger or smaller groups, and diverse or similar groups?”. The findings may not be what you would expect:

1. If all group members can see everyone’s ideas as they are being developed, the resulting ideas are fewer and less diverse.

2. People who shared similar professional backgrounds developed the most diverse ideas together.

3. Conversely, when people of diverse professional backgrounds came together, ideas became “safer” as people reverted to more conservative/well-known concepts, vetted against their expertise.

4. While whole-group collaboration (e.g., all 20 people in a team working and communicating together) resulted in happier team members, smaller siloed working groups (e.g., breaking the 20 people into four smaller groups, who only interacted with each other) yielded more ideas that were of higher quality.

5. Additionally, randomly assigning team members to these smaller groups generated the most creative and valuable ideas (as opposed to being very prescriptive towards group allocation).

The study indicates that the structure of a group and the similarity of the professional backgrounds within the group significantly affect the creativity and quality of ideas generated. Ultimately, it indicates that adapting your team’s structure depending on the nature of the task (i.e., small groups for brainstorming, and more connected, larger groups for refining ideas) will yield the best outcomes.

Consider:

Could your groups be too large and connected during the ideation phase of a project?

Could randomly assigning people into smaller groups help you to achieve better outcomes?

Article Reference:

Yiding Cao, Yingjun Dong, Minjun Kim, Neil G. MacLaren, Sriniwas Pandey, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, Hiroki Sayama. Effects of network connectivity and functional diversity distribution on human collective ideation. npj Complexity, 2025; 2 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s44260-024-00025-9

When was the last time you took some annual leave to rest and recuperate from the intensity of work and home life? For many of us, our annual leave balance accrues, and we might even wear this accrual as a badge of honour. However, recent research by the University of Georgia has found that not taking annual leave may be hurting both individuals and organisations.

The findings suggest that improvements to health and well-being can be achieved if we truly disconnect from work and take some time away, and the benefits can extend to the long term when done right.

So, what did they find?

1. Fully disengage: Those who ‘psychologically disengaged’ from work saw greater well-being benefits. That is, no calls, emails, or even sustained thinking about work.

2. Get moving: Those who exercised in some capacity on vacation came back to work better restored. ‘Moving’ does not have to be running a marathon, just enough to regularly get your heart rate up.

3. Plan time before and after: You know those post-holiday blues? Well, you can minimise them by scheduling some leave time around your leave, if you are going away. This could look like booking a day or two off before your official holiday to get ready and reduce stress. Then booking a day or two after your holiday to re-acclimatise back to daily life before work starts again.

Ultimately, as the metaphor goes, put on your own oxygen mask before trying to assist others. Or in other words, look after yourself and you’ll be better equipped to support everyone else.

Consider:

For you and your people, are you scheduling and encouraging periods of rest?

When on leave, are you truly “psychologically disengaging” from work?

If you are a leader, are you still expecting people to be responsive while on leave?

Article Reference:

Ryan S. Grant, Beth E. Buchanan, Kristen M. Shockley. I need a vacation: A meta-analysis of vacation and employee well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2025; DOI: 10.1037/apl0001262

You have likely heard of a mid-life crisis, but did you know there is such a thing as a mid-career crisis? A mid-career crisis is the mid-point in your career, marked by frustration, despondency, and dissatisfaction. Perhaps you have been through one or you may even be experiencing one now.

What was once thought to be a universal experience for those aged in their 40s and 50s, recent research has been able to narrow down the demographic likely to experience a mid-career crisis to select levels within a business. The Future of Work Research Centre of the University of Surrey looked at data from 100,000 people and found that job satisfaction follows a U-shape, but not for everyone.

Their findings suggested:

1. Those in managerial roles and professional workers experience the mid-career crisis.

2. Satisfaction hits the lowest point during someone’s 40s.

3.Those in intermediate and lower occupational roles do not necessarily display the same U-shape trajectory.

4. A decline in satisfaction through someone’s 40s is relatively common, which can be reassuring, with researchers noting that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”, especially if support is received.

This support could look like ensuring professional development is prioritised, that there are clear avenues for career progression, and coaching. Ultimately, finding opportunities to support career development and personal fulfilment can be a useful way to mitigate the impacts of this period in your (or someone else’s) career.

Consider:
What is the demographic like in your organisation?

Could people be experiencing a mid-career crisis and are there supports in place for them?

Article Reference:

Ying Zhou, Min Zou, Mark Williams. Is there a mid-career crisis? An investigation of the relationship between age and job satisfaction across occupations based on four large UK datasets. Socio-Economic Review, 2024; DOI: 10.1093/ser/mwae072

We hope that you have a safe, well and productive rest of your week.

– The Cognicent Team