An interesting article in Time magazine (via Kare Anderson) on the importance of teams and how to build them.
According to the article,
“when composing a team, it's better to select women, or at least cooperative candidates, over the next Einstein. “Even if a smart person knows the right strategy for the team to use, the other members can still choose not to listen,” Woolley explains. ‘For that smart person's intelligence to be fully utilized by a group, that person needs to also have social skills.’
“So why women? It's simply because they tend to be more socially sensitive. As Woolley's female colleagues like to quip, “If you often don't know ahead of time what people's social skill levels would be, you better have some women in there if you're placing your bets.” A non-female researcher agrees. “It makes sense,” says social psychologist Scott Tindale. “Women generally are more collectivistic. They care more about getting along than males on average.”
“The significance of social skills boils down to group dynamics. Those who relate better detect more subtle cues, paving the way for conversational turn-taking — the apparent hallmark of effective collaboration.”
Openness and a willingness to listen however have not always been valued in the male-dominated Western culture.
Openness: be ready to go sailing on a sea of possibilities
Openness means going with the flow when the senses are on full alet, the mind is receptive, the body is awaiting new input, and the soul is ready to go sailing on a sea of possibilities.
Being a full human being means being open. Open to what’s going on inside ourselves. Open to others, our friends, those we consider outsiders, and our enemies. Open to the natural world.
Openness means that we don’t want to miss one moment of what’s going on, whether it is a sudden flash of insight, or some slow epiphany that gradually unfurls. This is the heart of our humanity: being here, being open, and giving to others. We accept our interdependence with others by being open to their gifts and in turn reciprocate.
Open yourself; trust your natural responses and everything will fall into place
Lao-tzu
It turns out that this wisdom is not just good for the soul: it’s also good for productivity.
Read the full Time article here.
For more on women and management:
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