23
Antipattern #23 · ownership · p. 189
Prizing Individuals over Teams
A high-performing cross-functional team of "average talent" outperforms brilliant jerks, every time.
The Tin Man Behavior
Prioritizing "brilliant jerk" star performers at the cost of cross-functional collaboration.
The Results
- ·Internal competition and excessive politicking
- ·People focus on themselves, not customer impact.
- ·Lack of teamwork, hindered knowledge sharing
How Octopus Organizations Behave Instead
- ↳They recognize and reward collaboration before individual contribution.
- ↳They build cross-discipline teams of experts focused on customers and impact, not function or ego.
- ↳They redefine the meaning of "talent" and what makes a person "talented" in a team context.