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Is Your Workplace a Super Chickens Experiment?

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Is your workplace a Super Chickens Experiment?

A while back, I listened to a fascinating TED talk by Margaret Heffernan: Forget the pecking order at work. The talk was chilling because it reminded me of my old workplace. Like most workplaces, we had an annual review to give us feedback on how we performed. Based on the reviews, about 10% of the employees received raises and promotions. Another 10% got bad reviews and were put on the fast track for unemployment unless they can turn it around. The rest got a small cost of living adjustment or no raise at all. (Usually 2-3%, but it might be more depending on the year.) This super-chicken model is widely used and a lot of us have experienced it. It makes sense in a Darwinian way. The best workers should get raises and move up the ladder, right?

That’s not exactly true according to Dr. William Muir, a professor of genetics at Purdue University. Dr. Muir conducted an experiment to increase the egg-laying productivity of hens in the 90s and had an interesting result.

The Super Chickens Experiment

For the first group, they selectively bred the most productive hens of the flock for six generations. This produced the best individual chickens and those hens were put in one coop. This all-star team full of individual super-chickens was akin to the best workers who got promoted. The cage contained 9 chickens and we’ll call it the super chicken group.

For the second group, they picked a set of average chickens with good egg production that got along well together. These hens were also bred for six generations. This would be akin to promoting a productive team of workers without ranking each person individually. This cage also contained 9 chickens and we’ll call it the friendly chicken group.

Super Chickens Fail

What do you think was the result of the super chicken experiment? If the corporate model is right, the cage of super chickens should have the highest productivity. However, the result was very surprising. The super chickens were hyper-aggressive and pecked each other to death! Only 3 ragged chickens were left in the super chicken group at the end of the experiment. The super chickens were the most productive hen in their respective coops because they suppressed the productivity of other hens. Once they’re put in a coop full of super chickens, they bullied each other to death. Not a pretty picture.

On the other hand, the friendly chicken group did very well and increased their egg production by 160% after six generations. This group of chickens was more passive and they worked well together.

Corporate Environment

The result is very interesting because it shows that encouraging competition and ranking individual employees at work may not be the optimal way to increase productivity. The super chickens are talented, but they also get ahead at the expense of their coworkers. They are good at taking credit, suppressing their coworkers, and being more visible. That’s why the type A personality is better in the corporate environment. I was generally passive at work and my managers often told me I had to be more assertive and take on more responsibilities.

I guess the super chicken model is good enough for corporations because they can get rid of burned-out chickens every year. There are always younger, smarter, and better-looking chickens to take your place. If you can’t perform at a high level, then they’ll just hire a super chicken fresh out of college. This is particularly true in the technology sector. Technology changes so quickly and engineers need to learn new tools and software very often. Young engineers can perform most tasks just as well as senior engineers (after a little training) and they are cheaper! That’s why I think engineers should plan for early retirement. If things work out, you won’t need it, but it’s good to have a backup plan.

Successful Teams

Anyway, Margaret Heffernan went on to talk about the characteristics of successful teams.

  • They showed high degrees of social sensitivity to each other.
  • Each individual contributes to the team equally. No one dominates or is given more attention than another team member.
  • The successful groups have more women. Why? We don’t know…

The key is to work with each other and become friends. People collaborate much better with someone they like and the team is elevated. Companies need to get rid of the old super chicken model and promote collaboration. They need to allow people the time to get to know each other. The team dynamic is poisoned when an employee is promoted and another is fired every year. I completely lost my motivation when my boss was fired a few days before Christmas in 2009. It felt like the company was being vindictive and booted him before the end of the year so he wouldn’t get his annual bonus. It gave me a wake-up call and I made early retirement my goal. Fortunately, things worked out really well and I’ve been retired for over 10 years now. I make a lot less money than when I was an engineer, but life is so much better now. And I don’t have to worry about layoffs anymore! That’s fantastic.

Is your workplace a super chickens experiment? What is the annual review process like? If there is a better way to review and reward employees, I’d love to hear about it. Lastly, good luck with your annual review…

*Passive income is the key to early retirement. These days, I’m investing in commercial properties with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the United States. It’s been working so well that I’m planning to sell our rental condo so I can invest more. Go check them out!

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Joe started Retire by 40 in 2010 to figure out how to retire early. After 16 years of investing and saving, he achieved financial independence and retired at 38.

Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects across the USA so check them out!

Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.

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