The article, "Rewarding Competitors Over Collaborators No Longer Makes Sense", was an excellent one (Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2006).
Having worked in management for Avaya, Lucent Technologies and AT&T, I observed first hand how competition was, for the most part, rewarded over collaboration. Both in terms of performance ratings, financial rewards and promotions, the competitive stars were almost without exception better rewarded. They were also held up as role models by executive leadership through selection to various annual leadership (read: performance) councils.
In a knowledge-based economy, the benefits of collaboration seem obvious. But in my experience, and those shared with me by many others working for technology companies, the behavior that is rewarded is not that which is "coached" or mentored internally and externally.
Until better metrics for collaboration are developed and these are tied to performance management systems, the same old behavior of breeding and rewarding competitors will continue.
George Franks is with Franks Consulting Group - a management consulting and leadership coaching firm based in Bethesda, Maryland. For more see:
www.franksconsultinggroup.com
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