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What You Can Learn From Chickens About How to Select the Best People
She cites a famous chicken experiment by Purdue Professor William M. Muir in which he bred chickens for their productivity (measured by egg laying), for six generations, with the theory that would lead to a breed of “super chickens” who would then produce even more eggs. Sadly, the opposite occurred. https://evolution-institute.org/when-the-strong-outbreed-the-weak-an-interview-with-william-muir/
The most productive hens turned out to also be the most aggressive and pecked others to death. Out of the nine hens in the experiment, only three survived and those three were plucked almost bare during chicken “fight clubs”.
The hens in the “normal” control group continued to lay eggs at a productive rate. Heffernan has found in her research that these results hold true for humans and my informal research comports with her results. Super-competitive workers may also be the most aggressive and bullies wreak so much havoc that other people become less productive.
Money doesn’t change the equation. People may work harder for money, but not necessarily work better with other people, and almost all work these days requires collaboration. Heffernan’s additional findings are that building cooperative teams requires “social capital”, which is only built when people have time together to create trust and have some meaning to their work.
What Should You Do?
 The bottom line:
- Select people who “play well with others”, not just superstars.
- Give them time to connect. In one experiment, just scheduling synchronized coffee breaks increased productivity.
- Recognize that people do work for money but also meaning. Increasing revenue might sound like a worthy goal but it doesn’t inspire most people to come to work every day. Give them a feeling that their contribution goes deeper – especially if you can give them a sense that it matters to the team they are closest to.
 Did You Know
While we don’t conduct chicken experiments, we do conduct surveys with our clients in order to validate what works for all of our management and leadership workshops. A focus on working well with others is always a part of our curriculum.
Call or write me to discuss your options at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
Learn more about our training offerings and check out our team members at:
Read Lynne’s book “We Need to Talk” – Tough Conversations With Your Employee and learn how to tackle any topic with sensitivity and smarts.
Be sure to read Lynne’s book “Stop Pissing Me off!” and
learn what to do when people you work with drive you crazy.
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April 23, 2018
People, of course, are not chickens but TED talker Margaret Heffernan likes to compare the two when she talks to executives about their workforce. 
