“Although managers were supposed to be graded on teamwork, Enron was actually far more reflective of a survival-of-the-fittest mind-set. The culture was heavily built around star players with little value attached to team-building. The upshot: The organization rewarded highly competitive people who were less likely to share power, authority, or information. Indeed, some believe the extreme focus on individual ambition undermined any teamwork or institutional commitment. At other companies, by contrast, an emphasis on individual achievement is balanced by a strong focus on process and metrics or a set of guiding values. ‘In the Enron culture, there was no significant counterbalance,’ says Jon R. Katzenbach, a consultant and former McKinsey colleague of Skilling who has studied the company. ‘The lesson is you cannot rely solely on individual achievement to drive your performance over time. Companies with only that one path overemphasize it and run into trouble, switching over to vanity and greed.'”
Authors: John A. Byrne, Mike France, Wendy Zellner
Source: BusinessWeek
Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior
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