Every man for himself

Every man for himself

By Darrell Velegol, PhD

2024 Aug 30

In many workplaces, the de facto strategy, as my friend and colleague Monty Alger says, is “Every man for himself!” Of course that seems ridiculous, but it results when the incentive structure is set up to reward it. When we reward individuals instead of teams for great accomplishments, individual work results.

When I look at great companies, they reward for teamwork. After they notice certain individuals showing up on winning teams time after time, those individuals get rewarded. Are you willing to show up time after time, give your best unselfishly to the team, and then be rewarded only after leaving a long “trail of successful seeds”? 

Reward for teamwork, and you’ll get teamwork. Reward individuals, and you’ll get individual work. 

PS. My current colleague (while I’m on sabbatical at U Penn CBE) and friend Daeyeon Lee recently led a TEAM that won an $18 MM AIRFoundry Grant from the NSF. 

https://blog.seas.upenn.edu/melding-ai-and-rna-penns-18-million-airfoundry-to-revolutionize-rna-research/