Continued where “Dissertation, Week 11” left off.

Ah, the inevitabilities of group work. I’ll never be sure what to answer if asked whether I work well with teams… “depends on the team”? “Yes, I’m that one guy on every team who actually does the work”? “No, because teams are constantly and invariably overwhelmed by the special brand of apathy that comes with knowing someone else will be there to pick up the slack”? Any way I say it, it sounds bad, but it’s been my experience on every team I’ve ever worked with. Perhaps this is the purpose of management, but authority over the team’s organization and operations should not translate into higher rank. If a uniquely talented employee enters an organization, that person is irreplaceable in a manner that few managers are, yet the employee is considered the subordinate.

As Beethoven was supposed to have (roughly) said, “anyone can be an aristocrat, but there is only one Beethoven!” Such superlative skill should confer its own rank. Occasionally it does, but usually through promotion to manager. Do I even need to explain why promoting superlatively talented producers to positions in which they can no longer produce is a bad idea?