Everyone remembers the famous joke that a herd of bison runs at the speed of the slowest bison, so we should drink alcohol that kills off the weak nerve cells, allowing the others to work faster. It would all be funny if it weren’t so sad. The problem of the slowest bison is very similar to managing people.
To begin with, it’s important to understand why bison run at that particular speed. The answer is simple—they run that fast because there’s no point in running any faster. A predator will catch the weakest member of the herd and won’t pursue the others. If they get too far ahead of the weakest, there’s a chance the predator will go after the larger target—the remaining herd—rather than a solitary, lost bison in the prairie, which is weakly scented and doesn’t give away its presence with the sound of hooves. This is an example of collective behavior driven by negative motivation.
Now let’s take a look at how fast chickens run when feed is scattered in their trough. They certainly don’t move at the speed of the slowest chicken; they give it their all. This is an example of a group motivated by positive reinforcement.
If you practice frequent layoffs, and if there’s an atmosphere of expecting dismissals within the team, you will end up with a herd of bison. Everyone will compare themselves not to the best, but to the worst. They will seek guarantees that they won’t be fired. You will never have a team that genuinely works towards results. Well, the team will work towards results, but the results will not be sales volumes or production output; rather, the result will be the fact that “I wasn’t fired this month either.”