I think your point makes a lot of sense, although I’m not aware of any specific research on the topic. According to the book “The Wisdom of Crowds”, one of the 3 key attributes of a “wise crowd” is independence. This means people’s opinions are not determined by those around them.

That the co-located Google folks are voting the same way is not a surprise. They are likely exchanging information and forming a shared view instead of truly voting independently.

The other attributes of a wise crowd include divesity of opinion and decentralization – which the book describes as local knowledge that may or may not be available to the broader crowd.

So I think it does make sense that dispersing workers may result in more diverse and better organizational thinking. But the bigger impact may be that geographically dispersed workers simply have more diverse opinions and knowledge because they come from differenct backgrounds and experiences. It may be the people themselves, not where they are located.

Let me know if you come across any more information on this. Interesting topic.

Steve