Team Production on Keisuke Hattori

When the Star Performer Becomes the Boss

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 10:20:00 +0900

Background

Putting a star performer in charge of a team or department seems a promising choice. Someone who excels at doing the work can take the lead on tasks and step in afterward to help with those the members leave undone. This paper examines theoretically how a star performer who becomes the boss and continues to take on much of the work can nevertheless reduce team output.

Why a Better AI Teammate Can Mean Lower Team Output

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0900

Background

Replacing a team member with AI that can do more work seems likely to increase the team’s output. At the very least, if AI does as much work as the person it replaces, we might expect total output to stay the same.

This paper examines theoretically how replacing a human with AI that contributes more can nevertheless reduce team output.

Do Teams That Care About Each Other Perform Worse?

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 21:09:00 +0900

Background

Organizations do more than place employees in teams. They invest in shared goals, cohesion, and collective incentives, all intended to make members care about one another’s outcomes. There is good reason to do so: members who care about their teammates seem likely to work hard for the team, and existing work finds that social relationships among coworkers affect workplace effort and that team incentives are more effective in more cohesive teams.

But many of the activities assigned to teams require more than diligent execution. Work is not only a matter of how much members work; it is also a matter of what they work on.

Does Unequal Bargaining Power Help or Hurt Team Performance?

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:29:00 +0900

Background

Teams often negotiate who does how much work. Within a team, bargaining power is rarely equal: it varies with voice, presence, seniority, or simply skill at negotiating. A stronger bargainer can reduce her own workload and shift work onto a weaker one.

Does such unequal bargaining power help or hurt team performance?

Why Do Teams Duplicate Work That Sharing Could Prevent?

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0900

Background

Anyone who works in a team has had the experience of discovering that a teammate has been doing the same work, without either of them knowing. The remedy is simple: say which task you intend to take on. Shared workspaces, project-management systems, and Slack are all available, and a single message reaches everyone. Yet sharing is still neglected, and duplicate work does not go away.

Does a More Able Finisher Lower the Team's Delivered Quality?

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0900

Background

Work in teams is often passed along. A subordinate produces material and a superior finishes it; a junior researcher drafts a section and a senior colleague turns it into a submittable paper. It seems obvious that having an able person on the receiving end, the one who completes the work, is a strength for the team. What this paper shows is that in teams working against a deadline, delivered quality can fall as the finisher grows more able.

Does Teamwork Cure Procrastination, or Create It?

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 04:03:18 +0900

Background

Procrastination is usually thought of as an individual problem. You know the task should be done. There is a deadline. Your future self would clearly be better off if you got on with it. And yet, when the moment to start actually arrives, the immediate unpleasantness looms large and the task slides to tomorrow.

The Leader in the Glass Office: Why Promoting Your Best Worker Can Break Team Cooperation

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 04:03:18 +0900

Background

The word leadership brings to mind a leader guiding followers, or a leader monitoring how hard they work. Leaders set direction, motivate members, communicate information, supervise, and hold the team together. Leadership, on this understanding, is a device through which a leader influences other people.

This paper turns that view around. Is the leader really only on the disciplining side?

Social Interaction and Team Performance

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 01:03:20 +0900

Background

Many organizations invest heavily in team-building activities and workspace design intended to encourage social interaction. Google’s campuses are designed to produce chance encounters, and the Pixar headquarters designed by Steve Jobs is famous for a layout that maximizes spontaneous conversation.