How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Collaboration – and When to Skip It

Olympic relay races are the apex of collaboration. If one individual falters, it impacts the entire staff.

In terms of order, there’s no hard-and-fast rule. Some groups put their quickest runner first, however others choose to place them final. Based on USC’s director of observe and discipline, Caryl Smith Gilbert, typically you want somebody “hard-nosed” like Usain Bolt (previously the quickest man on Earth) to shut the race. Simply watch Bolt’s final Olympic relay race and you may perceive precisely what Smith Gilbert means. “It is anybody’s race,” says the announcer earlier than the ultimate handoff. However as quickly because the baton is in Bolt’s hand, the race is over. Jamaica wins by an extended shot.

Think about if runners had been much less prone to take part in relays in the event that they needed to run final as a result of they figured they’d get much less credit score. That is the case in relation to publications within the discipline of economics. Researchers discovered that individuals had been much less prone to collaborate on articles if their surname was lower down in the alphabet — which means they might be listed later within the byline. The reason being that when individuals assume they’re receiving much less credit score, they’re much less inclined to collaborate.