Emotional inteligence
312/661that the explicit hierarchy as mapped on an organizationalchart is the skeleton of an organization, these humantouch points are its central nervous system.Whenever people come together to collaborate,whether it be in an executive planning meeting or as ateam working toward a shared product, there is a veryreal sense in which they have a group IQ, the sum totalof the talents and skills of all those involved. And howwell they accomplish their task will be determined byhow high that IQ is. The single most important elementin group intelligence, it turns out, is not the average IQin the academic sense, but rather in terms of emotionalintelligence. The key to a high group IQ is social harmony.It is this ability to harmonize that, all other thingsbeing equal, will make one group especially talented,productive, and successful, and another—with memberswhose talent and skill are equal in other regards—dopoorly.The idea that there is a group intelligence at all comesfrom Robert Sternberg, the Yale psychologist, andWendy Williams, a graduate student, who were seekingto understand why some groups are far more effectivethan others. 18 After all, when people come together towork as a group, each brings certain talents—say, a highverbal fluency, creativity, empathy, or technical expertise.While a group can be no "smarter" than the sum
313/661total of all these specific strengths, it can be muchdumber if its internal workings don't allow people toshare their talents. This maxim became evident whenSternberg and Williams recruited people to take part ingroups that were given the creative challenge of comingup with an effective advertising campaign for a fictitioussweetener that showed promise as a sugar substitute.One surprise was that people who were too eager totake part were a drag on the group, lowering its overallperformance; these eager beavers were too controllingor domineering. Such people seemed to lack a basic elementof social intelligence, the ability to recognize whatis apt and what inappropriate in give-and-take. Anothernegative was having dead weight, members who did notparticipate.The single most important factor in maximizing theexcellence of a group's product was the degree to whichthe members were able to create a state of internal harmony,which lets them take advantage of the full talentof their members. The overall performance of harmoniousgroups was helped by having a member who wasparticularly talented; groups with more friction were farless able to capitalize on having members of great ability.In groups where there are high levels of emotionaland social static—whether it be from fear or anger, fromrivalries or resentments—people cannot offer their best.
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- Page 280 and 281: though we may have sworn that we wo
- Page 282 and 283: Because flooding is triggered by ne
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- Page 288 and 289: 10Managing with HeartMelburn McBroo
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- Page 294 and 295: in terms of what is expected of the
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- Page 298 and 299: 298/661Consider the alternative.An
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- Page 304 and 305: budge the biases of those employees
- Page 306 and 307: themselves that he's just unusual,
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- Page 328 and 329: 328/661bleeding is one of the most
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- Page 334 and 335: 334/661help them soften the attitud
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- Page 340 and 341: stress, their ATP levels rose sharp
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- Page 344 and 345: 344/661walk again. But depressed wo
- Page 346 and 347: 346/661Like its near cousin optimis
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- Page 350 and 351: relationships take their own toll.
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312/661
that the explicit hierarchy as mapped on an organizational
chart is the skeleton of an organization, these human
touch points are its central nervous system.
Whenever people come together to collaborate,
whether it be in an executive planning meeting or as a
team working toward a shared product, there is a very
real sense in which they have a group IQ, the sum total
of the talents and skills of all those involved. And how
well they accomplish their task will be determined by
how high that IQ is. The single most important element
in group intelligence, it turns out, is not the average IQ
in the academic sense, but rather in terms of emotional
intelligence. The key to a high group IQ is social harmony.
It is this ability to harmonize that, all other things
being equal, will make one group especially talented,
productive, and successful, and another—with members
whose talent and skill are equal in other regards—do
poorly.
The idea that there is a group intelligence at all comes
from Robert Sternberg, the Yale psychologist, and
Wendy Williams, a graduate student, who were seeking
to understand why some groups are far more effective
than others. 18 After all, when people come together to
work as a group, each brings certain talents—say, a high
verbal fluency, creativity, empathy, or technical expertise.
While a group can be no "smarter" than the sum