Introduction to the leadership of Margaret Hefferman
I have just listened to a Ted talk by this amazing woman, Margaret Hefferman, who states what seems to me to be an obvious “truth” or “principle” but which many of we humans seem to find difficult to practice. I heard this on the heels of the presidential primary election in New Hampshire – a primary won by Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. On the surface they seem diametrical opposites. I have a difficult time imagining either one of them creating a viable working relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States. Perhaps they would run as co-presidents or as co-vice presidents with Margaret Hefferman as President. Actually I am not sure if Ms. Hefferman is currently as citizen of the United States. She was born here but was raised in the Netherlands, educated at Cambridge, and is apparently well known in international business circles. She is also the author of five or more books including: The Naked Truth, A Working Woman’s Manifesto About Business and What Really Matters, How She Does It , Willful Blindness: Why Ignore the Obvious at our Peri, A Bigger Prize: Why Competition Isn’t Everything, How we do Better, and Beyond Measure.
My goal is not to repeat or retype the Ted Talk or to retype what can easily be found in her books. I do, however, want to begin with an excerpt from her Ted Talk about “Why it’s time to forget the pecking order at work” posted in June of 2015. She begins this talk:
“An evolutionary biologist at Purdue University named William Muir studied chickens. He was interested in productivity -- I think it's something that concerns all of us -- but it's easy to measure in chickens because you just count the eggs. (Laughter) He wanted to know what could make his chickens more productive, so he devised a beautiful experiment. Chickens live in groups, so first of all, he selected just an average flock, and he let it alone for six generations. But then he created a second group of the individually most productive chickens -- you could call them superchickens -- and he put them together in a superflock -- and each generation he selected only the most productive for breeding.
After six generations had passed, what did he find? Well, the first group, the average group, was doing just fine. They were all plump and fully feathered and egg production had increased dramatically. What about the second group? Well, all but three were dead. They'd pecked the rest to death. (Laughter) The individually productive chickens had only achieved their success by suppressing the productivity of the rest.
Now, as I've gone around the world talking about this and telling this story in all sorts of organizations and companies, people have seen the relevance almost instantly, and they come up and they say things to me like, "That superflock, that's my company." (Laughter) Or, "That's my country." Or, "That's my life."
She goes on to ask the question, ,”So what is it that makes some groups obviously more successful and more productive than others? Well, that's the question a team at MIT took to research…Nor were the most successful groups the ones that had the highest aggregate I.Q. Instead, they had three characteristics, the really successful teams. First of all, they showed high degrees of social sensitivity to each other. This is measured by something called the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. It's broadly considered a test for empathy, and the groups that scored highly on this did better. Secondly, the successful groups gave roughly equal time to each other, so that no one voice dominated, but neither were there any passengers. And thirdly, the more successful groups had more women in them. (Applause) Now, was this because women typically score more highly on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, so you're getting a doubling down on the empathy quotient? Or was it because they brought a more diverse perspective? We don't really know, but the striking thing about this experiment is that it showed what we know, which is some groups do better than others, but what's key to that is their social connectedness to each other.”
In short, let us imagine for a moment if Ms. Hefferman were the next president of the United States with Bernie Sanders as one co-vice president and Donald Trump the other co-vice president. One can just imagine her meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders, and the rest of the staff on the first morning of the new administration. Listen in:
Ms. Hefferman: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted that we are going to be learning to work together. I am going to assume that we are all on the same page. I would like you to consider the following:
We all respect each other as important and equal members of the team. That includes the Cabinet heads as they are approved, the Secretaries of the various departments, the grounds people, the cooks, the maintenance staff, and all the rest of you who are going to insure that we can function as a team.
There will be disagreement and conflict about problems/issues and solutions. This is good because no one of us has the answers.
Nothing is more important than how we take care of each other and our families. We know that if we are not healthy we cannot think clearly and compassionately and, thus, cannot be effective at our job.
We will focus on solutions and not criticism of each other, members of Congress, other countries or other groups.
Any solution we agree on has to be one which we would recommend to Congress, our national and international colleagues, and friends.
If there are momentary issues such as salaries and benefits which prevent any staff person from taking care of themselves and their families, we will find a way to adjust the budget without asking for additional money. If some changes have to be approved by Congress, we will together draft that proposal and present it to Congress as a unified team.
Once we have a basic level of trust we will spend time getting to know the esteemed member of congress. We will spend time with them at this workplace and in their homes and we will invite them to spend time with us and our homes.
Despite our titles and no matter how the press and others related to us, we are a team.
The roles of myself, Mr. Trump, and Mr.Sanders will, in effect, be that of co-leaders who be calling on you and others to help us design a system which facilitates us staying focused on finding new approaches to the many challenges which face this nation. Now, we need to redefine leadership as an activity in which conditions are created in which everyone can do their most courageous thinking together.
Mr. Trump: Excuse me. We need to tell this staff how they are going to function.
Ms. Hefferman: I really appreciate you sharing that Mr. Trump. I know that if we can agree to function the way I am suggesting it will be a learning curve for all of us.
Mr. Sanders: I think we need to get our proposals in for a single-payer health insurance plan before Congress comes up with another unworkable plan.
Ms. Hefferman: Thank you Mr. Sanders. I can understand your fear, but I am going to suggest that we take it a bit more slowly. I don’t think any member of Congress is going to respond well to being told what to do.
Mr. Trump: That is what people understand. It was not my idea to share this leadership. I know how to get things done.
Ms. Hefferman: I know we have the same goals and that none of us alone has been very successful in achieving them. Please be patient.
Mr. Sanders: With all due respect, I am afraid we are going to miss our chance to get our bill to them.
Ms. Hefferman: That may happen but I am convinced that attempting to push them will not work. I am impressed that we are starting off well here listening to each other and not attacking each other. That is a terrific start.
We have a group of really bright, competent people gathered here. I also know that we know a lot of other very bright people who want a more just and less violent world. I know that all of you need to get settled in your offices. Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders, and I will be meeting to get to know each other and to begin a discussion of how he can share the duties of our part of the job. Tomorrow I will like to hear from each of you about what your three top concerns are. In the meantime, I need to hear from the respective secretaries and cabinet heads about any immediate concerns they have. I understand that earlier you members of the kitchen staff had prepared pizza and salad which the secretaries and cabinets heads can bring to my office in thirty minutes. Thanks so much for agreeing to be part of this team.
Written February 10, 2016
I have just listened to a Ted talk by this amazing woman, Margaret Hefferman, who states what seems to me to be an obvious “truth” or “principle” but which many of we humans seem to find difficult to practice. I heard this on the heels of the presidential primary election in New Hampshire – a primary won by Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. On the surface they seem diametrical opposites. I have a difficult time imagining either one of them creating a viable working relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States. Perhaps they would run as co-presidents or as co-vice presidents with Margaret Hefferman as President. Actually I am not sure if Ms. Hefferman is currently as citizen of the United States. She was born here but was raised in the Netherlands, educated at Cambridge, and is apparently well known in international business circles. She is also the author of five or more books including: The Naked Truth, A Working Woman’s Manifesto About Business and What Really Matters, How She Does It , Willful Blindness: Why Ignore the Obvious at our Peri, A Bigger Prize: Why Competition Isn’t Everything, How we do Better, and Beyond Measure.
My goal is not to repeat or retype the Ted Talk or to retype what can easily be found in her books. I do, however, want to begin with an excerpt from her Ted Talk about “Why it’s time to forget the pecking order at work” posted in June of 2015. She begins this talk:
“An evolutionary biologist at Purdue University named William Muir studied chickens. He was interested in productivity -- I think it's something that concerns all of us -- but it's easy to measure in chickens because you just count the eggs. (Laughter) He wanted to know what could make his chickens more productive, so he devised a beautiful experiment. Chickens live in groups, so first of all, he selected just an average flock, and he let it alone for six generations. But then he created a second group of the individually most productive chickens -- you could call them superchickens -- and he put them together in a superflock -- and each generation he selected only the most productive for breeding.
After six generations had passed, what did he find? Well, the first group, the average group, was doing just fine. They were all plump and fully feathered and egg production had increased dramatically. What about the second group? Well, all but three were dead. They'd pecked the rest to death. (Laughter) The individually productive chickens had only achieved their success by suppressing the productivity of the rest.
Now, as I've gone around the world talking about this and telling this story in all sorts of organizations and companies, people have seen the relevance almost instantly, and they come up and they say things to me like, "That superflock, that's my company." (Laughter) Or, "That's my country." Or, "That's my life."
She goes on to ask the question, ,”So what is it that makes some groups obviously more successful and more productive than others? Well, that's the question a team at MIT took to research…Nor were the most successful groups the ones that had the highest aggregate I.Q. Instead, they had three characteristics, the really successful teams. First of all, they showed high degrees of social sensitivity to each other. This is measured by something called the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. It's broadly considered a test for empathy, and the groups that scored highly on this did better. Secondly, the successful groups gave roughly equal time to each other, so that no one voice dominated, but neither were there any passengers. And thirdly, the more successful groups had more women in them. (Applause) Now, was this because women typically score more highly on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, so you're getting a doubling down on the empathy quotient? Or was it because they brought a more diverse perspective? We don't really know, but the striking thing about this experiment is that it showed what we know, which is some groups do better than others, but what's key to that is their social connectedness to each other.”
In short, let us imagine for a moment if Ms. Hefferman were the next president of the United States with Bernie Sanders as one co-vice president and Donald Trump the other co-vice president. One can just imagine her meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders, and the rest of the staff on the first morning of the new administration. Listen in:
Ms. Hefferman: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted that we are going to be learning to work together. I am going to assume that we are all on the same page. I would like you to consider the following:
We all respect each other as important and equal members of the team. That includes the Cabinet heads as they are approved, the Secretaries of the various departments, the grounds people, the cooks, the maintenance staff, and all the rest of you who are going to insure that we can function as a team.
There will be disagreement and conflict about problems/issues and solutions. This is good because no one of us has the answers.
Nothing is more important than how we take care of each other and our families. We know that if we are not healthy we cannot think clearly and compassionately and, thus, cannot be effective at our job.
We will focus on solutions and not criticism of each other, members of Congress, other countries or other groups.
Any solution we agree on has to be one which we would recommend to Congress, our national and international colleagues, and friends.
If there are momentary issues such as salaries and benefits which prevent any staff person from taking care of themselves and their families, we will find a way to adjust the budget without asking for additional money. If some changes have to be approved by Congress, we will together draft that proposal and present it to Congress as a unified team.
Once we have a basic level of trust we will spend time getting to know the esteemed member of congress. We will spend time with them at this workplace and in their homes and we will invite them to spend time with us and our homes.
Despite our titles and no matter how the press and others related to us, we are a team.
The roles of myself, Mr. Trump, and Mr.Sanders will, in effect, be that of co-leaders who be calling on you and others to help us design a system which facilitates us staying focused on finding new approaches to the many challenges which face this nation. Now, we need to redefine leadership as an activity in which conditions are created in which everyone can do their most courageous thinking together.
Mr. Trump: Excuse me. We need to tell this staff how they are going to function.
Ms. Hefferman: I really appreciate you sharing that Mr. Trump. I know that if we can agree to function the way I am suggesting it will be a learning curve for all of us.
Mr. Sanders: I think we need to get our proposals in for a single-payer health insurance plan before Congress comes up with another unworkable plan.
Ms. Hefferman: Thank you Mr. Sanders. I can understand your fear, but I am going to suggest that we take it a bit more slowly. I don’t think any member of Congress is going to respond well to being told what to do.
Mr. Trump: That is what people understand. It was not my idea to share this leadership. I know how to get things done.
Ms. Hefferman: I know we have the same goals and that none of us alone has been very successful in achieving them. Please be patient.
Mr. Sanders: With all due respect, I am afraid we are going to miss our chance to get our bill to them.
Ms. Hefferman: That may happen but I am convinced that attempting to push them will not work. I am impressed that we are starting off well here listening to each other and not attacking each other. That is a terrific start.
We have a group of really bright, competent people gathered here. I also know that we know a lot of other very bright people who want a more just and less violent world. I know that all of you need to get settled in your offices. Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders, and I will be meeting to get to know each other and to begin a discussion of how he can share the duties of our part of the job. Tomorrow I will like to hear from each of you about what your three top concerns are. In the meantime, I need to hear from the respective secretaries and cabinet heads about any immediate concerns they have. I understand that earlier you members of the kitchen staff had prepared pizza and salad which the secretaries and cabinets heads can bring to my office in thirty minutes. Thanks so much for agreeing to be part of this team.
Written February 10, 2016
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