“The individually productive chickens had only achieved their success by suppressing the productivity of the rest. “

In an earlier post, we discussed the symptoms of the conflict caused by people fighting over time and money.

In this excellent TED talk by Margaret Heffernan, she explains that many organisations are run according to “the super chicken model,” where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others.

Those ‘star’ employees are usually measured in relation to their performance in one of the “3C’s”. When those ‘star’ employees compete for time and money to deliver on their particular “C” we know what we get – 22 serious problems when people compete for time and money (HPtE #9).

“And the result has been just the same as in William Muir’s experiment: aggression, dysfunction and waste. If the only way the most productive can be successful is by suppressing the productivity of the rest, then we badly need to find a better way to work and a richer way to live.”

Margaret Heffernan

Watch Margaret talk about creating environments where people work together and think collectively. This is at the heart of High Performance through Engagement. It will make you think about the future of work.

What are your thoughts? Comment below.