Nice article from SEOmoz Blog | How to Ruin a Web Design - The Design Curve. Basically, we talk about the “wisdom of the crowds” which I tend to agree with — on a macro level.

On a micro level, it has the tendency to not work as well because the quality of those people involved weighs more in the outcome. The author has a great quote:

Group intelligence is multiplicative when idiots are involved - combining a half-wit with another half-wit does not result in a full-witted person, it results in a quarter-witted person (1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4). Combining a full-witted individual with a half-wit still only yields a half-wit. The more of these “wrong kinds of people” you have involved in the process, the worse things get.

The wisdom of the crowds is usually effective, but down at the team level what becomes more important is the quality of knowledge/experience of the members. On the macro level, that need for quality gets diminished.

Therefore, it’s best to surround yourself with capable people you can trust. Take feedback seriously, but understand the source. If you are in leadership of a project and you’re surrounded by people who “get it”, let them show it. Trust them.