I’m at the downtown Panera Bread and the table beside me is a group of grad students (?) talking about chickens and egg production. I had to mention that because I just sat down here to blog about . . . super chickens and egg production.
Working on a team
Beyond the bottom line
Robert Kennedy’s analysis of GDP (see below) and other metrics that provide gross misdirection. If you are interested in exploring this in more detail, my bigger book A Bigger Prize does that. And no I’m not saying that because I’m pursing my economic interest in your buying my book but pursuing my intellection passion to change peoples’ thinking about the efficacy of competition.
“The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
Alisha says
I enjoyed watching this TED talk; thanks for sharing it. A few things that I’m thinking about after watching it:
– I wonder if the types of roles within a team matter in terms of the effects of having superstars. For instance, the chickens all have the same role, but perhaps the effects of superstars would be a little different if people had different responsibilities.
– What can a leader at a lower or middle level in an organization that promotes competition do to apply some of the concepts mentioned in this talk in their team? For instance, if earning rewards are based on competition and the leader can’t change that, what else could he/she do?
– I liked the idea of the “culture of helpfulness” that was described, and I agree that that type of culture would be good to have. From my own experience, I’ve also seen that working together longer, as mentioned in the video, plays a role in people getting to know each other and being helpful with each other.