Invention

As necessity is the mother of invention, recent paternity tests show that individuality is the father. Also tested were genius, luck and booze (necessity, that slut).

I think the subject of efficiency using a hive mind society came up while watching Independence
Day (the aliens in the movie appear to have one consciousness, probably to keep them all as 'bad guys' and not complicate things). Anyway, I said a hive mind wouldn't be efficient because
individuality was necessary for invention. It just sort of slipped out, but I think that it is true.

Corporations hire outside the company to refresh the flow and avoid group think. They want new ideas, and to get new ideas you need new, individual people. New ideas aren't always good, we all remember new coke and Pepsi blue, but new ideas are the basis of progress.

Sure, the hive mind could be more efficient on something that doesn't take ingenuity or is mostly grunt work, like working in a grocery store or building a house. And even then, the group think spreads to the architects, all the houses end up looking the same, and bam- we have a worldwide suburb.

I don't think anyone would argue that individuality is valuable, but it isn't just valuable, it's necessary.