How to harness the special talents of clever people, by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, Management Today, September 2009

This article is a summary of a book recently published by the authors and is impressive. I intend to buy the book to make a deeper assessment and will maybe review it on a future blog.

The argument for the need to identify and manage clever people is that, as the ‘knowledge economy’ develops, retaining and motivating such individuals will be almost the only opportunity for sustainable competitive advantage. The authors define ‘clevers’ as highly talented individuals with the potential to create disproportionate amounts of value, but who need an organisation to achieve their full potential. This latter caveat distinguishes them from artists and other free agents who can survive on their own.

There is so much in the article about the nature of such people and how best to manage them that it is difficult to summarise everything here. Key points are that they are difficult to manage conventionally and hate any trappings of hierarchy; they will only work well for leaders whom they respect and whose value they appreciate; they want to work closely with other clever people yet paradoxically do not work well in teams; they need recognition but the recognition they value most is from peers and external sources, not the hierarchy; they hate red tape, tight discipline and ‘bullshit’.

There is a summary of do’s and don’ts at the end of the article that is helpful but perhaps simplifies and devalues the earlier content. Maybe this even briefer summary does so even more but I will try:

Do – give them space and time, protect them from the organisation, talk straight, provide challenges, agree boundaries

Don’t – use the hierarchy, interfere, try to deceive, give too much feedback, impose discipline, expose to politics

The overall message is in the final paragraph; you must manage the delicate balance between giving clever people the freedom they need to experiment and grow, and the minimum discipline that sets them useful boundaries.

Looking back over the history of MTP and all the ‘clever people’ that have come and gone during our history, I can see that we did not always follow these rules and believe that we have learnt the lessons. This article confirms much of what we have found out the hard way.

This is a contribution of high quality and depth, much more so than the normal content of Management Today. It is highly recommended.

To read this article go to http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/929304/9-ways-harness-special-talents-clever-people/