Tuesday Buzz: Don’t Put Too Many Stars on the Same Team

When you put all your office stars on one team, you think you’d wind up with a super group that’s bursting at the seams with creativity. But scientific research shows that different skill levels and statuses actually help to boost a team’s creativity in contrast to loading up on highest-ranking employees.

“If a team includes too many high status people—‘stars’ or ‘a-players’ as they are more commonly known—they will compete for social standing and fail to consider others’ ideas,” write David Rock and Mary Slaughter in a new article for Quartz  (opens in a new tab).

The post goes on to discuss research that shows teams made up of high-status members often come up with the weakest ideas. “In one experiment, people assigned to the leader group were rated by independent judges as being far less creative in coming up with new product ideas than worker groups,” they write. “Their work was considered the ‘least innovative and most uninspired.’”

Facebook’s Print Publication

Facebook launch a real-life actual magazine, although apparently it’s not actually a magazine! Riiiiiight https://t.co/vzuJgvSTFd  (opens in a new tab)

— Dana Stevens (@_DanaEve) June 26, 2018  (opens in a new tab)

Oh, the irony. Facebook, one of the central figures to blame for the decline of print, has itself launched a quarterly print publication as part of its “thought leadership platform” targeted toward clients.

The publication, Grow, is currently being distributed in the United Kingdom for free in the first- and business-class lounges of train stations and airports, reports Vice News  (opens in a new tab). The company explained that the print publication was an alternative to digital offerings of the content.

“We know that business leaders have limited time for long reads at work, so we’ve also created a physical version with journeys in mind,” the social giant says on its Grow by Facebook website  (opens in a new tab).

Other Links of Note

What’s holding back your membership growth? Here are 5 common association habits that may be hurting you, according to The Joy of Membership  (opens in a new tab).

Don’t settle for plain old meeting badges. The Event Manager Blog shares 100 ways to do badges differently  (opens in a new tab).

A better company culture doesn’t require a complete overhaul. Inc. shares 12 things bosses can do today  (opens in a new tab).

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