John Porcaro blogsmore evidence of the dangers of running businesses by crude interpretations of numbers… how superficial metrics can cover a rich tapestry of human issues and guide businesses down crazy paths.
John also links to this excellent piece Let’s hear it for B Players which also shows that there is far richer and subtler value in people than any spreadsheet can ever demonstrate. It includes these observations…
At the extreme, A players think more about what’s good for Brand Me than what’s good for the company
Since most leaders are themselves A players, they tend to undervalue B players who have a different worldview
Companies are routinely blinded to the important role B players serve in saving organizations from themselves
Of course, the very labels A and B beg questions. One of the richest learnings of doing Improv is that in good collaborations, value results from a subtle blend of quite different inputs… and no-one is worse at Improv than the person who tries to be a Star.