On 28 July 2019, Émile Servan-Schreiber reported being invited to the Verbier Festival to discuss how diversity can make people more intelligent, individually and collectively. A flyer attached to his 19 July invitation identifies the event as a discussion on women and collective intelligence, held on Thursday, 25 July.
A discussion before the concert
The festival flyer announced a 17:00 conference at the Salle des Combins, café Beethoven, in Verbier, followed by a 19:00 concert. It identified the partner as the Office cantonal de l’égalité et de la famille and listed four participants: Servan-Schreiber, introduced through Supercollectif; Sophia de Meyer, founder of Opaline; Geneviève Morand, associated with Rezo-nance.ch and teaching; and Stéphane Benoît-Godet, introduced as editor-in-chief of Le Temps.
The announced format combined discussion, an aperitif and music. The concert programme named the Verbier Festival Orchestra, conductor Franz Welser-Möst and baritone Matthias Goerne, with works by Brahms and Bruckner. The pairing placed a conversation about cooperation and diversity within a cultural evening, connecting a leadership and research theme with the festival’s musical programme.
What the diversity theme can support
Servan-Schreiber’s recap stated his argument broadly: diversity benefits both collective and individual intelligence. In a group setting, that proposition raises questions about who contributes and how their perspectives are combined. His account described the intended theme of his appearance, while the flyer situated it within a discussion involving people from business, networks and journalism.
A relevant research foundation exists independently of this event. Woolley and colleagues’ 2010 Science paper reported evidence for a collective-intelligence factor across group tasks. It was associated with social sensitivity, a more equal distribution of conversational turns and the proportion of women in the group. These are findings about particular groups and tasks, not a rule that any change in demographics automatically improves every decision.
The festival appearance placed that conversation before a cultural audience. It is part of the public discussion of Supercollectif’s ideas: how people can organise different contributions into better judgement. The research adds an important distinction to the theme of diversity. Group composition and the quality of interaction are connected questions, and the findings concern associations across specific tasks rather than a guarantee of improvement in every decision.
