Forget the pecking order at work
-
0:01 - 0:04An evolutionary biologist
at Purdue University -
0:04 - 0:07named William Muir studied chickens.
-
0:08 - 0:09He was interested in productivity --
-
0:09 - 0:12I think it's something
that concerns all of us -- -
0:12 - 0:15but it's easy to measure in chickens
because you just count the eggs. -
0:15 - 0:17(Laughter)
-
0:17 - 0:20He wanted to know what could make
his chickens more productive, -
0:20 - 0:23so he devised a beautiful experiment.
-
0:23 - 0:27Chickens live in groups, so first of all,
he selected just an average flock, -
0:27 - 0:31and he let it alone for six generations.
-
0:31 - 0:33But then he created a second group
-
0:33 - 0:35of the individually
most productive chickens -- -
0:35 - 0:38you could call them superchickens --
-
0:38 - 0:40and he put them together in a superflock,
-
0:40 - 0:45and each generation, he selected
only the most productive for breeding. -
0:45 - 0:48After six generations had passed,
-
0:48 - 0:50what did he find?
-
0:50 - 0:54Well, the first group, the average group,
was doing just fine. -
0:54 - 0:56They were all plump and fully feathered
-
0:56 - 0:58and egg production
had increased dramatically. -
0:59 - 1:01What about the second group?
-
1:01 - 1:03Well, all but three were dead.
-
1:04 - 1:06They'd pecked the rest to death.
-
1:06 - 1:08(Laughter)
-
1:08 - 1:14The individually productive chickens
had only achieved their success -
1:14 - 1:18by suppressing the productivity
of the rest. -
1:19 - 1:23Now, as I've gone around the world
talking about this and telling this story -
1:23 - 1:25in all sorts of organizations
and companies, -
1:25 - 1:27people have seen
the relevance almost instantly, -
1:27 - 1:30and they come up and they say
things to me like, -
1:30 - 1:33"That superflock, that's my company."
-
1:33 - 1:35(Laughter)
-
1:35 - 1:38Or, "That's my country."
-
1:38 - 1:40Or, "That's my life."
-
1:41 - 1:45All my life I've been told that the way
we have to get ahead is to compete: -
1:45 - 1:49get into the right school,
get into the right job, get to the top, -
1:49 - 1:52and I've really never found it
very inspiring. -
1:52 - 1:57I've started and run businesses
because invention is a joy, -
1:57 - 2:01and because working alongside
brilliant, creative people -
2:01 - 2:02is its own reward.
-
2:03 - 2:08And I've never really felt very motivated
by pecking orders or by superchickens -
2:08 - 2:11or by superstars.
-
2:11 - 2:13But for the past 50 years,
-
2:13 - 2:17we've run most organizations
and some societies -
2:17 - 2:20along the superchicken model.
-
2:20 - 2:24We've thought that success is achieved
by picking the superstars, -
2:24 - 2:28the brightest men,
or occasionally women, in the room, -
2:28 - 2:31and giving them all the resources
and all the power. -
2:31 - 2:35And the result has been just the same
as in William Muir's experiment: -
2:35 - 2:40aggression, dysfunction and waste.
-
2:40 - 2:45If the only way the most productive
can be successful -
2:45 - 2:48is by suppressing
the productivity of the rest, -
2:48 - 2:51then we badly need to find
a better way to work -
2:51 - 2:54and a richer way to live.
-
2:55 - 2:59(Applause)
-
2:59 - 3:03So what is it that makes some groups
-
3:03 - 3:06obviously more successful
and more productive than others? -
3:07 - 3:10Well, that's the question
a team at MIT took to research. -
3:10 - 3:12They brought in hundreds of volunteers,
-
3:12 - 3:16they put them into groups, and they
gave them very hard problems to solve. -
3:16 - 3:19And what happened was exactly
what you'd expect, -
3:19 - 3:22that some groups were very much
more successful than others, -
3:22 - 3:25but what was really interesting
was that the high-achieving groups -
3:25 - 3:28were not those where they had
one or two people -
3:28 - 3:31with spectacularly high I.Q.
-
3:31 - 3:35Nor were the most successful groups
the ones that had the highest -
3:35 - 3:37aggregate I.Q.
-
3:37 - 3:43Instead, they had three characteristics,
the really successful teams. -
3:43 - 3:49First of all, they showed high degrees
of social sensitivity to each other. -
3:49 - 3:52This is measured by something called
the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. -
3:52 - 3:55It's broadly considered
a test for empathy, -
3:55 - 3:57and the groups that scored highly on this
-
3:57 - 3:59did better.
-
3:59 - 4:04Secondly, the successful groups
gave roughly equal time to each other, -
4:04 - 4:06so that no one voice dominated,
-
4:06 - 4:09but neither were there any passengers.
-
4:09 - 4:12And thirdly, the more successful groups
-
4:12 - 4:14had more women in them.
-
4:14 - 4:16(Applause)
-
4:16 - 4:20Now, was this because women
typically score more highly on -
4:20 - 4:22the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test,
-
4:22 - 4:25so you're getting a doubling down
on the empathy quotient? -
4:25 - 4:28Or was it because they brought
a more diverse perspective? -
4:28 - 4:32We don't really know, but the striking
thing about this experiment -
4:32 - 4:36is that it showed what we know, which is
some groups do better than others, -
4:36 - 4:39but what's key to that
-
4:39 - 4:42is their social connectedness
to each other. -
4:44 - 4:46So how does this play out
in the real world? -
4:46 - 4:52Well, it means that what happens
between people really counts, -
4:52 - 4:56because in groups that are highly
attuned and sensitive to each other, -
4:56 - 4:59ideas can flow and grow.
-
4:59 - 5:03People don't get stuck.
They don't waste energy down dead ends. -
5:03 - 5:07An example: Arup is one of the world's
most successful engineering firms, -
5:07 - 5:10and it was commissioned to build
the equestrian center -
5:10 - 5:12for the Beijing Olympics.
-
5:12 - 5:14Now, this building had to receive
-
5:14 - 5:19two and a half thousand
really highly strung thoroughbred horses -
5:19 - 5:21that were coming off long-haul flights,
-
5:21 - 5:25highly jet-lagged,
not feeling their finest. -
5:25 - 5:28And the problem
the engineer confronted was, -
5:28 - 5:32what quantity of waste to cater for?
-
5:33 - 5:37Now, you don't get taught this
in engineering school -- (Laughter) -- -
5:37 - 5:40and it's not really the kind of thing
you want to get wrong, -
5:40 - 5:44so he could have spent months
talking to vets, doing the research, -
5:44 - 5:46tweaking the spreadsheet.
-
5:46 - 5:49Instead, he asked for help
-
5:49 - 5:53and he found someone who had designed
the Jockey Club in New York. -
5:53 - 5:57The problem was solved in less than a day.
-
5:57 - 6:00Arup believes that
the culture of helpfulness -
6:00 - 6:03is central to their success.
-
6:03 - 6:07Now, helpfulness sounds really anemic,
-
6:07 - 6:11but it's absolutely core
to successful teams, -
6:11 - 6:17and it routinely outperforms
individual intelligence. -
6:17 - 6:20Helpfulness means I don't
have to know everything, -
6:20 - 6:26I just have to work among people
who are good at getting and giving help. -
6:26 - 6:31At SAP, they reckon that you can answer
any question in 17 minutes. -
6:32 - 6:35But there isn't a single
high-tech company I've worked with -
6:35 - 6:41that imagines for a moment
that this is a technology issue, -
6:41 - 6:45because what drives helpfulness
is people getting to know each other. -
6:46 - 6:51Now that sounds so obvious, and we think
it'll just happen normally, -
6:51 - 6:52but it doesn't.
-
6:52 - 6:56When I was running
my first software company, -
6:56 - 6:58I realized that we were getting stuck.
-
6:58 - 7:02There was a lot of friction,
but not much else, -
7:02 - 7:06and I gradually realized the brilliant,
creative people that I'd hired -
7:06 - 7:08didn't know each other.
-
7:08 - 7:12They were so focused
on their own individual work, -
7:12 - 7:16they didn't even know
who they were sitting next to, -
7:16 - 7:19and it was only when I insisted
that we stop working -
7:19 - 7:21and invest time in getting
to know each other -
7:21 - 7:24that we achieved real momentum.
-
7:25 - 7:27Now, that was 20 years ago,
and now I visit companies -
7:27 - 7:30that have banned coffee cups at desks
-
7:30 - 7:34because they want people to hang out
around the coffee machines -
7:34 - 7:36and talk to each other.
-
7:36 - 7:39The Swedes even have
a special term for this. -
7:39 - 7:42They call it fika, which means
more than a coffee break. -
7:42 - 7:46It means collective restoration.
-
7:46 - 7:49At Idexx, a company up in Maine,
-
7:49 - 7:52they've created vegetable gardens
on campus so that people -
7:52 - 7:54from different parts of the business
-
7:54 - 7:59can work together and get to know
the whole business that way. -
7:59 - 8:01Have they all gone mad?
-
8:01 - 8:05Quite the opposite -- they've figured out
that when the going gets tough, -
8:05 - 8:07and it always will get tough
-
8:07 - 8:09if you're doing breakthrough work
that really matters, -
8:09 - 8:12what people need is social support,
-
8:12 - 8:15and they need to know who to ask for help.
-
8:15 - 8:20Companies don't have ideas;
only people do. -
8:20 - 8:23And what motivates people
-
8:23 - 8:27are the bonds and loyalty and trust
they develop between each other. -
8:28 - 8:31What matters is the mortar,
-
8:31 - 8:34not just the bricks.
-
8:34 - 8:36Now, when you put all of this together,
-
8:36 - 8:39what you get is something
called social capital. -
8:39 - 8:45Social capital is the reliance
and interdependency that builds trust. -
8:45 - 8:48The term comes from sociologists
who were studying communities -
8:48 - 8:53that proved particularly resilient
in times of stress. -
8:53 - 8:58Social capital is what
gives companies momentum, -
8:58 - 9:03and social capital
is what makes companies robust. -
9:04 - 9:06What does this mean in practical terms?
-
9:07 - 9:11It means that time is everything,
-
9:11 - 9:15because social capital
compounds with time. -
9:15 - 9:21So teams that work together longer
get better, because it takes time -
9:21 - 9:26to develop the trust you need
for real candor and openness. -
9:26 - 9:30And time is what builds value.
-
9:31 - 9:33When Alex Pentland
suggested to one company -
9:33 - 9:36that they synchronize coffee breaks
-
9:36 - 9:39so that people would have time
to talk to each other, -
9:39 - 9:43profits went up 15 million dollars,
-
9:43 - 9:47and employee satisfaction
went up 10 percent. -
9:47 - 9:50Not a bad return on social capital,
-
9:50 - 9:54which compounds even as you spend it.
-
9:54 - 10:00Now, this isn't about chumminess,
and it's no charter for slackers, -
10:00 - 10:05because people who work this way
tend to be kind of scratchy, -
10:05 - 10:09impatient, absolutely determined
to think for themselves -
10:09 - 10:13because that's what their contribution is.
-
10:13 - 10:18Conflict is frequent
because candor is safe. -
10:18 - 10:23And that's how good ideas
turn into great ideas, -
10:23 - 10:27because no idea is born fully formed.
-
10:27 - 10:30It emerges a little bit
as a child is born, -
10:30 - 10:34kind of messy and confused,
but full of possibilities. -
10:34 - 10:41And it's only through the generous
contribution, faith and challenge -
10:41 - 10:44that they achieve their potential.
-
10:44 - 10:48And that's what social capital supports.
-
10:49 - 10:52Now, we aren't really used
to talking about this, -
10:52 - 10:56about talent, about creativity,
in this way. -
10:56 - 11:00We're used to talking about stars.
-
11:00 - 11:04So I started to wonder,
well, if we start working this way, -
11:04 - 11:07does that mean no more stars?
-
11:07 - 11:10So I went and I sat in on the auditions
-
11:10 - 11:14at the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art in London. -
11:14 - 11:17And what I saw there really surprised me,
-
11:17 - 11:22because the teachers weren't looking
for individual pyrotechnics. -
11:22 - 11:26They were looking for what happened
between the students, -
11:26 - 11:31because that's where the drama is.
-
11:31 - 11:33And when I talked
to producers of hit albums, -
11:33 - 11:36they said, "Oh sure, we have
lots of superstars in music. -
11:36 - 11:39It's just, they don't last very long.
-
11:39 - 11:43It's the outstanding collaborators
who enjoy the long careers, -
11:43 - 11:47because bringing out the best in others
is how they found the best -
11:47 - 11:49in themselves."
-
11:50 - 11:52And when I went to visit companies
that are renowned -
11:52 - 11:54for their ingenuity and creativity,
-
11:54 - 11:57I couldn't even see any superstars,
-
11:57 - 12:01because everybody there really mattered.
-
12:01 - 12:04And when I reflected on my own career,
-
12:04 - 12:08and the extraordinary people
I've had the privilege to work with, -
12:08 - 12:14I realized how much more
we could give each other -
12:14 - 12:19if we just stopped trying
to be superchickens. -
12:20 - 12:25(Laughter) (Applause)
-
12:25 - 12:31Once you appreciate
truly how social work is, -
12:31 - 12:34a lot of things have to change.
-
12:34 - 12:39Management by talent contest
has routinely pitted -
12:39 - 12:41employees against each other.
-
12:41 - 12:46Now, rivalry has to be replaced
by social capital. -
12:46 - 12:49For decades, we've tried
to motivate people with money, -
12:49 - 12:52even though we've got
a vast amount of research that shows -
12:52 - 12:56that money erodes social connectedness.
-
12:57 - 13:02Now, we need to let people
motivate each other. -
13:03 - 13:08And for years, we've thought that leaders
were heroic soloists who were expected, -
13:08 - 13:11all by themselves,
to solve complex problems. -
13:11 - 13:14Now, we need to redefine leadership
-
13:14 - 13:18as an activity in which
conditions are created -
13:18 - 13:24in which everyone can do their most
courageous thinking together. -
13:24 - 13:28We know that this works.
-
13:28 - 13:33When the Montreal Protocol called
for the phasing out of CFCs, -
13:33 - 13:37the chlorofluorocarbons implicated
in the hole in the ozone layer, -
13:37 - 13:39the risks were immense.
-
13:39 - 13:42CFCs were everywhere,
-
13:42 - 13:45and nobody knew if a substitute
could be found. -
13:45 - 13:51But one team that rose to the challenge
adopted three key principles. -
13:51 - 13:55The first was the head of engineering,
Frank Maslen, said, -
13:55 - 13:58there will be no stars in this team.
-
13:58 - 14:00We need everybody.
-
14:00 - 14:03Everybody has a valid perspective.
-
14:03 - 14:08Second, we work to one standard only:
-
14:08 - 14:10the best imaginable.
-
14:11 - 14:14And third, he told his boss,
Geoff Tudhope, -
14:14 - 14:16that he had to butt out,
-
14:16 - 14:19because he knew
how disruptive power can be. -
14:19 - 14:22Now, this didn't mean Tudhope did nothing.
-
14:22 - 14:23He gave the team air cover,
-
14:23 - 14:28and he listened to ensure
that they honored their principles. -
14:28 - 14:34And it worked: Ahead of all the other
companies tackling this hard problem, -
14:34 - 14:38this group cracked it first.
-
14:38 - 14:40And to date, the Montreal Protocol
-
14:40 - 14:46is the most successful international
environmental agreement -
14:46 - 14:48ever implemented.
-
14:49 - 14:52There was a lot at stake then,
-
14:52 - 14:55and there's a lot at stake now,
-
14:55 - 14:59and we won't solve our problems
if we expect it to be solved -
14:59 - 15:02by a few supermen or superwomen.
-
15:02 - 15:05Now we need everybody,
-
15:05 - 15:12because it is only when we accept
that everybody has value -
15:12 - 15:19that we will liberate the energy
and imagination and momentum we need -
15:19 - 15:23to create the best beyond measure.
-
15:23 - 15:26Thank you.
-
15:26 - 15:30(Applause)
- Title:
- Forget the pecking order at work
- Speaker:
- Margaret Heffernan
- Description:
-
Organizations are often run according to "the superchicken model," where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn't what drives the most high-achieving teams. Business leader Margaret Heffernan observes that it is social cohesion — built every coffee break, every time one team member asks another for help — that leads over time to great results. It's a radical rethink of what drives us to do our best work, and what it means to be a leader. Because as Heffernan points out: "Companies don't have ideas. Only people do."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 15:47
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why it's time to forget the pecking order at work |