There’s a meme floating around the web about the talent war and the competition for “star” performers. A piece at the NY Times recently discussed the trend of buying startups in order to capitalize on their founders’ talents, with Mark Zuckerberg saying that “someone who is exceptional in their role is not just a little better than someone who is pretty good. They are 100 times better.”
Meanwhile, over at Harvard Business Review, Fast Company’s founder Bill Taylor blogged — and then blogged again — that superstar talent is an overrated myth, one that ignores the need for systems and teamwork in order for organizations to be sustainable. Malcolm Gladwell famously has some thoughts on this topic and around the web there seems to be research both supporting and contradicting the star performer approach.
Star performers come in both genders, of course, but at tech startups it seems they’re predominantly men. The lack of women starting tech companies might even exacerbate the lack of women; venture capitalist John Doerr has said that he looks for “white, male nerds” with “absolutely no social life” when deciding which companies to fund, even though tech companies founded by women have lower failure rates and use less capital.
Joanne Cohoon’s research on startup cultures finds that the John Doerr “pattern recognition” approach has a negative impact both on a company’s ability to hire and retain women and on a company’s performance; in fact, having more women has been shown to result in increased profits and efficiency).
New research shows that there’s little correlation between the intelligence of an individual and the “collective intelligence” (problem-solving ability, team performance) of the group in which that individual participates. In other words, groups full of super-smart people don’t necessarily perform better than groups of average-intelligence people. Interestingly, this same research finds that there is a factor that increases a group’s collective intelligence: the presence of women.
Acknowledging the existence of gender stereotypes, the lack of women starting tech companies, and the fact that technology jobs are booming, a debate over star performers vs. high-performing teams seems beside the point. As Bill Taylor points out in reference to the Dallas Mavericks and the Barcelona soccer club, organizations with “winning” records need both.
- K-12
- K-12
- I Want To
- K-12 Resources
K-12 Resources
Act and advocate for more inclusive computing learning experiences. Encourage and inspire students to explore computing pathways that match their interests and abilities.
- K-12 Programs
K-12 Programs
Inspire and encourage individuals of all backgrounds, equip K-12 and higher education influencers, and foster virtual and in-person communities at local, regional, and national levels.
- K-12 Alliance
K-12 Alliance
Mobilize year-round alongside formal and informal educators and other adult influencers nationwide working together to create lasting impact.
- Get Involved
- Higher Education
- Higher Education
- I Want To
- Higher Ed Resources
Higher Education Resources
Build consensus for action amongst colleagues, leaders, and advisors to create momentum for measurable, sustainable change within computing departments and institutions.
- Higher Ed Programs
Higher Education Programs
Recognize students’ computing aspirations, honor faculty for their outstanding mentorship, secure strategic buy-in for lasting change, and more.
- Higher Ed Alliance
Higher Ed Alliance
Mobilize year round alongside faculty, staff, administrators, department heads, and other mentors nationwide working together to create lasting impact.
- Get Involved
- Workforce
- Workforce
- I Want To
- Workforce Resources
Workforce Resources
Employ strategic approaches that avoid the typical pitfalls of traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions.
- Workforce Programs
Workforce Programs
Volunteer to engage with the next generation of technologists, amplify the bottom-line benefits of diverse technological contributions, and more.
- Workforce Alliance
Workforce Alliance
Mobilize year round alongside corporate seniors, executives, and team leaders nationwide working together to create lasting impact.
- Get Involved
- Resources
- Resources
- Programs
- Programs
- Aspirations in Computing
Aspirations in Computing
Aspirations in Computing (AiC) provides encouragement, enables persistence, opens doors, and changes lives for women in technology from K-12 through career.
- BridgeUP STEM
BridgeUP STEM
BridgeUP STEM provides opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to learn the skills of computer science and research methodology within a research university setting.
- Color of Our Future
Color of Our Future
The Color of Our Future focuses on broadening the meaningful participation of underrepresented women and girls of color (Black, Latinx, and Native American).
- Conversations for Change
Conversations for Change
Conversations for Change is an online thought leadership series that presents research-based recommendations and prompts peer-to-peer discussions to further inclusivity in computing.
- Counselors for Computing
Counselors for Computing
Counselors for Computing (C4C) offers professional development to school counselors, positioning them to effectively guide ALL students in exploring computing pathways.
- Higher Ed Programs
Higher Ed Programs
Higher Ed programs recognize students’ computing aspirations, honor faculty for their outstanding mentorship, secure strategic buy-in for lasting change, and more.
- NCWIT Recognitions
NCWIT Recognitions
NCWIT Recognitions foster great potential that otherwise may have gone unrecognized, and foster great ideas that might never have come to fruition.
- Regional Initiatives
Regional Initiatives
NCWIT’s Regional Initiatives bundle research-backed programs and practices to increase the local participation of women and girls in tech fields and careers. To understand local computing ecosystems, and cater content and programming to needs on the ground, NCWIT partners with community stakeholders to build awareness, inspire participation, and connect women to like-minded peers, role models, and opportunities.
- Sit With Me
Sit with Me
Sit With Me uses its iconic red chair to create in-person and virtual spaces where everyone can reflect on the value of diversity and inclusion.
- Tech Inclusion Journey
Tech Inclusion Journey
The Tech Inclusion Journey (TIJ) is a unique, scalable software platform that empowers change leaders to implement systemic, sustainable approaches to the creation of inclusive cultures.
- Aspirations in Computing
- Media Hub
- News & Events
- News & Events
- NCWIT Summit
NCWIT Summit
The NCWIT Summit: where conversations lead to change is the world’s largest annual convening of change leaders focused on significantly improving diversity and equity in computing.
- News
News
Check out NCWIT’s latest press releases, press mentions, newsletters, blogs, and articles we are talking about!
- Events
Events
NCWIT offers various in-person and virtual events throughout the year and is also present at many other industry events. Find out about past and upcoming items here.
- re:think Magazine
- NCWIT Summit
- About NCWIT
- About NCWIT
- LOG IN