Little Known Way to Get Better Teamwork: Hire Consistent Contributors

January 26th, 2010 by lewis

I read a fascinating Kellogg article today. It says hiring managers can increase teamwork by hiring consistent contributors. Here’s an excerpt:

J. Keith Murnighan (Professor of Risk Management at the Kellogg School of Management) and Kellogg alumnus J. Mark Weber (Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Toronto) investigated what they call the “cooperation problem” in a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Murnighan and Weber point to the influence of a consistent contributor—a person who always contributes, regardless of others’ choices—in groups that cooperate most effectively.

“The consistent contributor looks for the collective good first and personal good second,” explains Murnighan. They initiate cooperation, leading the way for others to follow suit. The consistent contributor can drive the actions of others, acting as a catalyst for cooperation by altering the perceptions and actions of their fellow group members.

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One Response to “Little Known Way to Get Better Teamwork: Hire Consistent Contributors”

  1. January 26, 2010 at 7:27 pm, DC Jobs said:

    I wonder what it is that hiring managers, looking to hire a "consistent contributors", should look for in a candidate's resume.