0:00:00.717,0:00:04.014
An evolutionary biologist[br]at Purdue University

0:00:04.014,0:00:07.160
named William Muir studied chickens.

0:00:07.520,0:00:09.249
He was interested in productivity --

0:00:09.249,0:00:11.539
I think it's something[br]that concerns all of us --

0:00:11.539,0:00:14.827
but it's easy to measure in chickens[br]because you just count the eggs.

0:00:14.827,0:00:16.527
(Laughter)

0:00:16.527,0:00:19.944
He wanted to know what could make[br]his chickens more productive,

0:00:19.944,0:00:22.870
so he devised a beautiful experiment.

0:00:22.870,0:00:27.328
Chickens live in groups, so first of all,[br]he selected just an average flock,

0:00:27.328,0:00:30.718
and he let it alone for six generations.

0:00:30.718,0:00:32.807
But then he created a second group

0:00:32.807,0:00:35.315
of the individually[br]most productive chickens --

0:00:35.315,0:00:38.270
you could call them superchickens --

0:00:38.270,0:00:40.377
and he put them together in a superflock,

0:00:40.377,0:00:45.075
and each generation, he selected[br]only the most productive for breeding.

0:00:45.415,0:00:47.969
After six generations had passed,

0:00:47.969,0:00:49.717
what did he find?

0:00:49.717,0:00:53.548
Well, the first group, the average group,[br]was doing just fine.

0:00:53.548,0:00:56.074
They were all plump and fully feathered

0:00:56.074,0:00:58.352
and egg production[br]had increased dramatically.

0:00:58.702,0:01:00.559
What about the second group?

0:01:01.419,0:01:03.293
Well, all but three were dead.

0:01:04.253,0:01:06.413
They'd pecked the rest to death.

0:01:06.413,0:01:07.990
(Laughter)

0:01:07.990,0:01:13.501
The individually productive chickens[br]had only achieved their success

0:01:13.501,0:01:18.164
by suppressing the productivity[br]of the rest.

0:01:18.830,0:01:22.525
Now, as I've gone around the world[br]talking about this and telling this story

0:01:22.525,0:01:24.777
in all sorts of organizations[br]and companies,

0:01:24.777,0:01:27.353
people have seen[br]the relevance almost instantly,

0:01:27.353,0:01:29.659
and they come up and they say[br]things to me like,

0:01:29.659,0:01:32.750
"That superflock, that's my company."

0:01:32.750,0:01:34.715
(Laughter)

0:01:34.715,0:01:38.226
Or, "That's my country."

0:01:38.226,0:01:40.318
Or, "That's my life."

0:01:40.798,0:01:44.722
All my life I've been told that the way[br]we have to get ahead is to compete:

0:01:44.722,0:01:48.754
get into the right school,[br]get into the right job, get to the top,

0:01:48.754,0:01:52.492
and I've really never found it[br]very inspiring.

0:01:52.492,0:01:57.275
I've started and run businesses[br]because invention is a joy,

0:01:57.275,0:02:00.595
and because working alongside[br]brilliant, creative people

0:02:00.595,0:02:02.075
is its own reward.

0:02:02.755,0:02:08.397
And I've never really felt very motivated[br]by pecking orders or by superchickens

0:02:08.397,0:02:10.966
or by superstars.

0:02:11.276,0:02:13.220
But for the past 50 years,

0:02:13.220,0:02:17.452
we've run most organizations[br]and some societies

0:02:17.452,0:02:19.770
along the superchicken model.

0:02:19.960,0:02:23.582
We've thought that success is achieved[br]by picking the superstars,

0:02:23.582,0:02:27.731
the brightest men,[br]or occasionally women, in the room,

0:02:27.731,0:02:31.090
and giving them all the resources[br]and all the power.

0:02:31.430,0:02:35.493
And the result has been just the same[br]as in William Muir's experiment:

0:02:35.493,0:02:40.462
aggression, dysfunction and waste.

0:02:40.462,0:02:44.572
If the only way the most productive[br]can be successful

0:02:44.572,0:02:47.753
is by suppressing[br]the productivity of the rest,

0:02:47.753,0:02:51.236
then we badly need to find[br]a better way to work

0:02:51.236,0:02:54.010
and a richer way to live.

0:02:54.510,0:02:58.921
(Applause)

0:02:58.921,0:03:02.915
So what is it that makes some groups

0:03:02.915,0:03:06.390
obviously more successful[br]and more productive than others?

0:03:06.700,0:03:09.974
Well, that's the question[br]a team at MIT took to research.

0:03:09.974,0:03:12.400
They brought in hundreds of volunteers,

0:03:12.400,0:03:15.894
they put them into groups, and they[br]gave them very hard problems to solve.

0:03:15.894,0:03:18.625
And what happened was exactly[br]what you'd expect,

0:03:18.625,0:03:21.931
that some groups were very much[br]more successful than others,

0:03:21.931,0:03:25.461
but what was really interesting[br]was that the high-achieving groups

0:03:25.461,0:03:28.108
were not those where they had[br]one or two people

0:03:28.108,0:03:31.149
with spectacularly high I.Q.

0:03:31.149,0:03:34.748
Nor were the most successful groups[br]the ones that had the highest

0:03:34.748,0:03:37.117
aggregate I.Q.

0:03:37.117,0:03:42.991
Instead, they had three characteristics,[br]the really successful teams.

0:03:42.991,0:03:48.633
First of all, they showed high degrees[br]of social sensitivity to each other.

0:03:48.633,0:03:52.232
This is measured by something called[br]the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test.

0:03:52.232,0:03:54.717
It's broadly considered[br]a test for empathy,

0:03:54.717,0:03:56.914
and the groups that scored highly on this

0:03:56.914,0:03:58.864
did better.

0:03:58.864,0:04:03.972
Secondly, the successful groups[br]gave roughly equal time to each other,

0:04:03.972,0:04:06.317
so that no one voice dominated,

0:04:06.317,0:04:09.103
but neither were there any passengers.

0:04:09.103,0:04:11.820
And thirdly, the more successful groups

0:04:11.820,0:04:14.165
had more women in them.

0:04:14.165,0:04:16.162
(Applause)

0:04:16.162,0:04:20.437
Now, was this because women[br]typically score more highly on

0:04:20.437,0:04:22.310
the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test,

0:04:22.310,0:04:25.037
so you're getting a doubling down[br]on the empathy quotient?

0:04:25.037,0:04:27.795
Or was it because they brought[br]a more diverse perspective?

0:04:27.795,0:04:31.951
We don't really know, but the striking[br]thing about this experiment

0:04:31.951,0:04:36.380
is that it showed what we know, which is[br]some groups do better than others,

0:04:36.380,0:04:38.731
but what's key to that

0:04:38.731,0:04:42.378
is their social connectedness[br]to each other.

0:04:43.543,0:04:46.375
So how does this play out[br]in the real world?

0:04:46.375,0:04:51.716
Well, it means that what happens[br]between people really counts,

0:04:51.716,0:04:55.524
because in groups that are highly[br]attuned and sensitive to each other,

0:04:55.524,0:04:58.780
ideas can flow and grow.

0:04:58.780,0:05:02.768
People don't get stuck.[br]They don't waste energy down dead ends.

0:05:02.768,0:05:07.482
An example: Arup is one of the world's[br]most successful engineering firms,

0:05:07.482,0:05:10.134
and it was commissioned to build[br]the equestrian center

0:05:10.134,0:05:12.000
for the Beijing Olympics.

0:05:12.000,0:05:13.826
Now, this building had to receive

0:05:13.826,0:05:19.120
two and a half thousand[br]really highly strung thoroughbred horses

0:05:19.120,0:05:21.209
that were coming off long-haul flights,

0:05:21.209,0:05:24.692
highly jet-lagged,[br]not feeling their finest.

0:05:24.692,0:05:28.104
And the problem[br]the engineer confronted was,

0:05:28.104,0:05:31.780
what quantity of waste to cater for?

0:05:32.540,0:05:37.184
Now, you don't get taught this[br]in engineering school -- (Laughter) --

0:05:37.184,0:05:40.388
and it's not really the kind of thing[br]you want to get wrong,

0:05:40.388,0:05:43.853
so he could have spent months[br]talking to vets, doing the research,

0:05:43.853,0:05:45.654
tweaking the spreadsheet.

0:05:45.654,0:05:48.799
Instead, he asked for help

0:05:48.799,0:05:53.285
and he found someone who had designed[br]the Jockey Club in New York.

0:05:53.285,0:05:57.404
The problem was solved in less than a day.

0:05:57.404,0:06:00.191
Arup believes that[br]the culture of helpfulness

0:06:00.191,0:06:02.959
is central to their success.

0:06:03.279,0:06:07.400
Now, helpfulness sounds really anemic,

0:06:07.400,0:06:11.498
but it's absolutely core[br]to successful teams,

0:06:11.498,0:06:16.707
and it routinely outperforms[br]individual intelligence.

0:06:17.117,0:06:20.322
Helpfulness means I don't[br]have to know everything,

0:06:20.322,0:06:25.600
I just have to work among people[br]who are good at getting and giving help.

0:06:25.600,0:06:31.361
At SAP, they reckon that you can answer[br]any question in 17 minutes.

0:06:32.131,0:06:35.126
But there isn't a single[br]high-tech company I've worked with

0:06:35.126,0:06:40.571
that imagines for a moment[br]that this is a technology issue,

0:06:40.571,0:06:45.041
because what drives helpfulness[br]is people getting to know each other.

0:06:45.771,0:06:50.782
Now that sounds so obvious, and we think[br]it'll just happen normally,

0:06:50.782,0:06:52.410
but it doesn't.

0:06:52.410,0:06:55.704
When I was running[br]my first software company,

0:06:55.704,0:06:57.738
I realized that we were getting stuck.

0:06:57.738,0:07:01.523
There was a lot of friction,[br]but not much else,

0:07:01.523,0:07:06.399
and I gradually realized the brilliant,[br]creative people that I'd hired

0:07:06.399,0:07:08.364
didn't know each other.

0:07:08.364,0:07:12.241
They were so focused[br]on their own individual work,

0:07:12.241,0:07:15.970
they didn't even know[br]who they were sitting next to,

0:07:15.970,0:07:18.541
and it was only when I insisted[br]that we stop working

0:07:18.541,0:07:21.125
and invest time in getting[br]to know each other

0:07:21.125,0:07:24.223
that we achieved real momentum.

0:07:24.813,0:07:27.409
Now, that was 20 years ago,[br]and now I visit companies

0:07:27.409,0:07:30.311
that have banned coffee cups at desks

0:07:30.311,0:07:34.305
because they want people to hang out[br]around the coffee machines

0:07:34.305,0:07:36.139
and talk to each other.

0:07:36.139,0:07:38.647
The Swedes even have[br]a special term for this.

0:07:38.647,0:07:42.007
They call it fika, which means[br]more than a coffee break.

0:07:42.007,0:07:45.613
It means collective restoration.

0:07:45.613,0:07:48.724
At Idexx, a company up in Maine,

0:07:48.724,0:07:51.516
they've created vegetable gardens[br]on campus so that people

0:07:51.516,0:07:53.768
from different parts of the business

0:07:53.768,0:07:58.644
can work together and get to know[br]the whole business that way.

0:07:58.644,0:08:00.989
Have they all gone mad?

0:08:00.989,0:08:04.542
Quite the opposite -- they've figured out[br]that when the going gets tough,

0:08:04.542,0:08:06.585
and it always will get tough

0:08:06.585,0:08:09.301
if you're doing breakthrough work[br]that really matters,

0:08:09.301,0:08:11.972
what people need is social support,

0:08:11.972,0:08:15.199
and they need to know who to ask for help.

0:08:15.199,0:08:19.936
Companies don't have ideas;[br]only people do.

0:08:19.936,0:08:22.536
And what motivates people

0:08:22.536,0:08:27.030
are the bonds and loyalty and trust[br]they develop between each other.

0:08:27.566,0:08:31.260
What matters is the mortar,

0:08:31.260,0:08:33.549
not just the bricks.

0:08:34.299,0:08:36.273
Now, when you put all of this together,

0:08:36.273,0:08:39.431
what you get is something[br]called social capital.

0:08:39.431,0:08:44.980
Social capital is the reliance[br]and interdependency that builds trust.

0:08:44.980,0:08:48.471
The term comes from sociologists[br]who were studying communities

0:08:48.471,0:08:52.739
that proved particularly resilient[br]in times of stress.

0:08:53.409,0:08:57.960
Social capital is what[br]gives companies momentum,

0:08:57.960,0:09:03.222
and social capital[br]is what makes companies robust.

0:09:04.182,0:09:06.442
What does this mean in practical terms?

0:09:06.852,0:09:10.759
It means that time is everything,

0:09:10.759,0:09:15.426
because social capital[br]compounds with time.

0:09:15.426,0:09:20.534
So teams that work together longer[br]get better, because it takes time

0:09:20.534,0:09:26.041
to develop the trust you need[br]for real candor and openness.

0:09:26.461,0:09:29.925
And time is what builds value.

0:09:30.625,0:09:32.878
When Alex Pentland[br]suggested to one company

0:09:32.878,0:09:35.594
that they synchronize coffee breaks

0:09:35.594,0:09:39.495
so that people would have time[br]to talk to each other,

0:09:39.495,0:09:42.978
profits went up 15 million dollars,

0:09:42.978,0:09:46.832
and employee satisfaction[br]went up 10 percent.

0:09:46.832,0:09:49.933
Not a bad return on social capital,

0:09:49.933,0:09:53.960
which compounds even as you spend it.

0:09:53.960,0:10:00.022
Now, this isn't about chumminess,[br]and it's no charter for slackers,

0:10:00.022,0:10:04.656
because people who work this way[br]tend to be kind of scratchy,

0:10:04.656,0:10:08.690
impatient, absolutely determined[br]to think for themselves

0:10:08.690,0:10:12.680
because that's what their contribution is.

0:10:12.680,0:10:17.979
Conflict is frequent[br]because candor is safe.

0:10:18.280,0:10:23.471
And that's how good ideas[br]turn into great ideas,

0:10:23.471,0:10:26.571
because no idea is born fully formed.

0:10:26.571,0:10:29.900
It emerges a little bit[br]as a child is born,

0:10:29.900,0:10:34.489
kind of messy and confused,[br]but full of possibilities.

0:10:34.489,0:10:40.610
And it's only through the generous[br]contribution, faith and challenge

0:10:40.610,0:10:43.892
that they achieve their potential.

0:10:43.892,0:10:47.955
And that's what social capital supports.

0:10:49.455,0:10:52.228
Now, we aren't really used[br]to talking about this,

0:10:52.228,0:10:56.198
about talent, about creativity,[br]in this way.

0:10:56.198,0:10:59.932
We're used to talking about stars.

0:11:00.262,0:11:04.371
So I started to wonder,[br]well, if we start working this way,

0:11:04.371,0:11:06.595
does that mean no more stars?

0:11:07.445,0:11:09.805
So I went and I sat in on the auditions

0:11:09.805,0:11:13.661
at the Royal Academy[br]of Dramatic Art in London.

0:11:13.661,0:11:16.886
And what I saw there really surprised me,

0:11:16.886,0:11:21.786
because the teachers weren't looking[br]for individual pyrotechnics.

0:11:21.786,0:11:26.476
They were looking for what happened[br]between the students,

0:11:26.476,0:11:30.586
because that's where the drama is.

0:11:30.586,0:11:32.875
And when I talked[br]to producers of hit albums,

0:11:32.875,0:11:36.103
they said, "Oh sure, we have[br]lots of superstars in music.

0:11:36.103,0:11:39.220
It's just, they don't last very long.

0:11:39.220,0:11:43.220
It's the outstanding collaborators[br]who enjoy the long careers,

0:11:43.220,0:11:47.432
because bringing out the best in others[br]is how they found the best

0:11:47.432,0:11:49.076
in themselves."

0:11:49.686,0:11:52.115
And when I went to visit companies[br]that are renowned

0:11:52.115,0:11:54.182
for their ingenuity and creativity,

0:11:54.182,0:11:57.107
I couldn't even see any superstars,

0:11:57.107,0:12:01.445
because everybody there really mattered.

0:12:01.445,0:12:04.328
And when I reflected on my own career,

0:12:04.328,0:12:08.252
and the extraordinary people[br]I've had the privilege to work with,

0:12:08.252,0:12:13.796
I realized how much more[br]we could give each other

0:12:13.796,0:12:18.917
if we just stopped trying[br]to be superchickens.

0:12:19.815,0:12:24.970
(Laughter) (Applause)

0:12:24.970,0:12:31.346
Once you appreciate[br]truly how social work is,

0:12:31.346,0:12:34.443
a lot of things have to change.

0:12:34.443,0:12:38.530
Management by talent contest[br]has routinely pitted

0:12:38.530,0:12:40.991
employees against each other.

0:12:40.991,0:12:45.505
Now, rivalry has to be replaced[br]by social capital.

0:12:46.355,0:12:49.480
For decades, we've tried[br]to motivate people with money,

0:12:49.480,0:12:52.360
even though we've got[br]a vast amount of research that shows

0:12:52.360,0:12:56.191
that money erodes social connectedness.

0:12:56.851,0:13:02.186
Now, we need to let people[br]motivate each other.

0:13:02.646,0:13:07.570
And for years, we've thought that leaders[br]were heroic soloists who were expected,

0:13:07.570,0:13:10.726
all by themselves,[br]to solve complex problems.

0:13:10.726,0:13:14.278
Now, we need to redefine leadership

0:13:14.278,0:13:18.342
as an activity in which[br]conditions are created

0:13:18.342,0:13:24.300
in which everyone can do their most[br]courageous thinking together.

0:13:24.300,0:13:27.820
We know that this works.

0:13:28.210,0:13:32.505
When the Montreal Protocol called[br]for the phasing out of CFCs,

0:13:32.505,0:13:36.847
the chlorofluorocarbons implicated[br]in the hole in the ozone layer,

0:13:36.847,0:13:39.032
the risks were immense.

0:13:39.332,0:13:42.231
CFCs were everywhere,

0:13:42.231,0:13:44.780
and nobody knew if a substitute[br]could be found.

0:13:45.360,0:13:50.671
But one team that rose to the challenge[br]adopted three key principles.

0:13:51.289,0:13:54.647
The first was the head of engineering,[br]Frank Maslen, said,

0:13:54.647,0:13:57.980
there will be no stars in this team.

0:13:57.980,0:14:00.257
We need everybody.

0:14:00.257,0:14:02.985
Everybody has a valid perspective.

0:14:03.485,0:14:07.711
Second, we work to one standard only:

0:14:07.711,0:14:10.310
the best imaginable.

0:14:10.590,0:14:13.632
And third, he told his boss,[br]Geoff Tudhope,

0:14:13.632,0:14:15.605
that he had to butt out,

0:14:15.605,0:14:18.856
because he knew[br]how disruptive power can be.

0:14:18.856,0:14:21.689
Now, this didn't mean Tudhope did nothing.

0:14:21.689,0:14:23.430
He gave the team air cover,

0:14:23.430,0:14:27.540
and he listened to ensure[br]that they honored their principles.

0:14:28.190,0:14:34.260
And it worked: Ahead of all the other[br]companies tackling this hard problem,

0:14:34.260,0:14:37.518
this group cracked it first.

0:14:37.738,0:14:40.339
And to date, the Montreal Protocol

0:14:40.339,0:14:46.060
is the most successful international[br]environmental agreement

0:14:46.060,0:14:47.982
ever implemented.

0:14:49.402,0:14:51.940
There was a lot at stake then,

0:14:51.940,0:14:54.679
and there's a lot at stake now,

0:14:54.679,0:14:59.207
and we won't solve our problems[br]if we expect it to be solved

0:14:59.207,0:15:01.808
by a few supermen or superwomen.

0:15:01.808,0:15:05.314
Now we need everybody,

0:15:05.314,0:15:11.540
because it is only when we accept[br]that everybody has value

0:15:11.540,0:15:18.586
that we will liberate the energy[br]and imagination and momentum we need

0:15:18.586,0:15:23.360
to create the best beyond measure.

0:15:23.360,0:15:26.100
Thank you.

0:15:26.100,0:15:30.100
(Applause)