#117: Specializing in nonsense

Quite a number of years ago Adam Smith pointed out that the reason the division of labor leads to greater productivity is because it allows people to specialize and become very good at what they do. Today we take it for granted that specialization, created by the division of labor within teams, will result in productivity gains. But should we take this for granted?

Too often, at least for my liking, I encounter teams that allow people to specialize in nonsense, and to become very good at it too. There are two main reasons why this happens:

(1) Team members forget why the team exists in the first place and
(2) team members prize team cohesion above speaking out against nonsense.

When why the team exists begins to matter less than that the team exists, you have a team which has become very good at.... But I’m sure you can figure that out for yourself.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
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