Talent, Talent, Too Much Talent
by Miki Saxon
Stars. Everyone wants to hire stars.
Sports teams buy them for astronomical salaries.
Companies use salaries, stock, sign-on bonuses and anything else they can.
Beyond bragging rights, stars are supposed to goose innovation, boost productivity and all kinds of good stuff.
In 2010 the Miami Heat bought LeBron James and Chris Bosh to add to the triple the star power of Dwayne Wade — and had a terrible season.
What happened?
Stars want to be stars.
When individual interests take precedence over what is best for the collective, group performance declines. It no longer functions as a cohesive whole. (…) For chickens [another example], businessmen, and basketball players alike, high-levels of performance comes with high-levels of competitive spirit. These status conflicts drive performance down.
Down, not up.
You can still hire brilliant individual contributors if you are willing to put in the time and effort to make them a team.
It takes work, because they won’t become one left to their own devices.
Just remember that all teams aren’t created equal, so be sure your team plays basketball and not baseball.
Bill Simmons referred to baseball as “an individual sport masquerading as a team sport.”
President Barack Obama referred to basketball as “the quintessential team sport”
Flickr image credit: Kentucky National Guard
October 28th, 2015 at 1:15 am
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