Climbing Expeditions & Teamwork
CEO India|September 2019
A new study mines decades of mountaineering data to measure how groupthink fares against top-down leadership
Climbing Expeditions & Teamwork

In principle, the mountaineer’s work is simple: “To win the game he has first to reach the mountain’s summit,” said George Mallory, who took part in Britain’s first three attempts on Everest in the 1920s. “But, further, he has to descend in safety.”

The tension between these two goals — summiting while also surviving — makes the Himalayas context especially interesting (and relevant for companies also balancing multiple goals), says Lindred Leura Greer), an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“Mountaineering provides an interesting setting, and an extreme one, in which you’re trying to win while also trying to mitigate loss,” Greer says. “This looks a lot like, say, a startup, where you’re trying to maximize to become a unicorn while at the same time trying to make sure the small details don’t pull you under.”

Given this analogue, Greer and other researchers used mountain climbing as a lens to explore long-standing assumptions about group performance. For decades, academics have suggested a straightforward link between a group’s solidarity and its success: The more a group operates with a single mind, the better its execution.

But this is true only under certain conditions, according to an article in Organization Science. The paper was co-authored by Greer, Jennifer Chatman and Bernadette Doerr of Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and Eliot Sherman of London Business School.

When the goal is simply to summit a mountain, the researchers found, a collectivistic focus within the group is essential. But when circumstances turn dire and the goal shifts to mere survival, then differences within a group ought to be exploited.

BALANCING COLLECTIVISM AND INDIVIDUALISM

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av CEO India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av CEO India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA CEO INDIASe alt
CEO India

Five Ways To Win The Consumer Of 2030, Now

To win the data and technology-enabled “smart consumer” of tomorrow, discover the five things every consumer-facing business must do right now

time-read
7 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

TWENTY FOR ‘20

WILL THE NEW DECADE BE AS TRANSFORMATIVE AS THE LAST? EY EXAMINES THE QUESTIONS THAT WILL SHAPE THE NEXT DECADE

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2020
ROBOTS ON THE MOVE
CEO India

ROBOTS ON THE MOVE

THE MARKET FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE ROBOTS IS POISED TO TAKE OFF WITH A VENGEANCE, FUELED BY NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN 5G TELECOM SERVICES AND AI CHIPS

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

POST-DIGITAL CULTURE SHOCK

COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE FOCUSING ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT MANY ARE OVERLOOKING THE CULTURE CHANGE NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS

time-read
5 mins  |
February 2020
FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL
CEO India

FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL

Winning sales organisations excel at these five essential capabilities

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
Shooting for the Stars
CEO India

Shooting for the Stars

MANFRED BAUMANN SHARES HIS INSIGHTS INTO PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITURE

time-read
4 mins  |
February 2020
FLYING WHILE BLIND
CEO India

FLYING WHILE BLIND

I AM NOT ONLY AN EXPERIENCED TRAVELER; I AM AN EXPERIENCED BLIND PERSON…

time-read
5 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

THE ALCHEMIST OF HOSPITALITY

Puneet Chhatwal, the CEO and MD of Tata Group’s hospitality arm Indian Hotels Company, talks about how his company is reimagining and repositioning some of its most renowned brands, raising the hospitality bar, with an eye on the evolving customer and emerging concepts and trends

time-read
8 mins  |
February 2020
CEO India

Robots Can Go All The Way To Mars, But They Can't Pick Up The Groceries?

In the popular imagination, robots have been portrayed alternatively as friendly companions or existential threat. But while robots are becoming commonplace in many industries, they are neither C-3PO nor the Terminator. Cambridge researchers are studying the interaction between robots and humans – and teaching them how to do the very difficult things that we find easy.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2020
How To Create A Growth Mindset?
CEO India

How To Create A Growth Mindset?

A growth-oriented mindset must be cultivated among the employees for business growth and sustenance. It requires a good understanding of people and what drives them

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2020