Prior research has proposed a nonlinear relationship between team potency and team creativity (Miron-Spektor et al., 2011). However, the nature and the underlying mechanisms that produce the nonlinear relationship are still inconsistent. Building on the process model of team regulation, I propose and test two mechanisms (team persistency and team satisfaction with the current state) that explain this nonlinear relationship. In a pilot study, using 192 teams from 9 organizations, I find that the exact nature of this nonlinear relationship is an inverted U-shape. In Study 1 (155 teams from 2 organizations) and Study 2 (122 teams from 7 organizations), I find that team potency has a positive relationship with team persistency, and a nonlinear relationship with team satisfaction with the current state. In turn, team persistency and team satisfaction with the current state has respectively a positive and a negative relationship with team creativity. Together, the above two mechanisms produce a nonlinear relationship between team potency and team creativity. The main contribution is to explicate the mechanisms (team persistency and team satisfaction with the current state) that would produce the nonlinear relationship between team potency and team creativity and therefore reconcile inconclusive findings in the literature.

Keywords: Team potency; team creativity; team persistency; team satisfaction with the current state