We hear about competition all day long.
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We hear about competition all day long. Win goals, win games, win business, win against the other applicant, win against the other team.
I've been in a lot of workplaces where the dominant messaging about how we should all act was that competition is what delivers the sharpest knowledge work, and I'd bet a lot of you have heard this too.
But the science of group problem-solving tells a different story
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We hear about competition all day long. Win goals, win games, win business, win against the other applicant, win against the other team.
I've been in a lot of workplaces where the dominant messaging about how we should all act was that competition is what delivers the sharpest knowledge work, and I'd bet a lot of you have heard this too.
But the science of group problem-solving tells a different story
And the specific thing competition does to your brain, once you know about it, is hard to unsee.
We literally *stop being able to fluently access empathy* when our cognition is pointed at grouping the world into opposing sides. The more we see people as not as the complex individuals they are but as a flattened part of a rival group, the stronger these effects. The more we interpret group conflict as the stage for individual actions, the more our minds inhibit empathy.
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And the specific thing competition does to your brain, once you know about it, is hard to unsee.
We literally *stop being able to fluently access empathy* when our cognition is pointed at grouping the world into opposing sides. The more we see people as not as the complex individuals they are but as a flattened part of a rival group, the stronger these effects. The more we interpret group conflict as the stage for individual actions, the more our minds inhibit empathy.
Mina Cikara's research on intergroup competition (among others) documents that under competition conditions, the empathy gap between us and them can flip into something measurable as pleasure at the other side's failure. People surrounded by narratives of intergroup conflict are more likely to justify violence toward outsiders, and feel more schadenfreude at their misfortune.
We have powerful systems in our minds for empathy, but we also have systems that dampen empathy during threat.
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Mina Cikara's research on intergroup competition (among others) documents that under competition conditions, the empathy gap between us and them can flip into something measurable as pleasure at the other side's failure. People surrounded by narratives of intergroup conflict are more likely to justify violence toward outsiders, and feel more schadenfreude at their misfortune.
We have powerful systems in our minds for empathy, but we also have systems that dampen empathy during threat.
But we can disrupt this zero-sum competition frame, and the healthiest groups learn how to do this. Some concrete strategies that work across the research:
- making people aware that groups are not monolithic in their social connections
- finding cross-cutting ties between members of "different" groupsand,
- invoking a group's own values against a harmful set of actions and holding one's group to a higher standard --> this one is a particularly fun area of work on "loyal dissenters" -
But we can disrupt this zero-sum competition frame, and the healthiest groups learn how to do this. Some concrete strategies that work across the research:
- making people aware that groups are not monolithic in their social connections
- finding cross-cutting ties between members of "different" groupsand,
- invoking a group's own values against a harmful set of actions and holding one's group to a higher standard --> this one is a particularly fun area of work on "loyal dissenters"Loyal dissenters, as studied by Dominic Packer, are people who strongly identify with their group but *are also capable of dissenting with their group's norms.* They are key agents of reshaping and moving groups toward better. They are, as he calls them in a delightful paper title, "rebels with a cause."
Disrupting the empathy dampening is absolutely possible, and the more you cultivate habits of empathy, the more you become willing to point out hypocritical groups, the more you play this role
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We hear about competition all day long. Win goals, win games, win business, win against the other applicant, win against the other team.
I've been in a lot of workplaces where the dominant messaging about how we should all act was that competition is what delivers the sharpest knowledge work, and I'd bet a lot of you have heard this too.
But the science of group problem-solving tells a different story
@grimalkina my bf works in sales. About 3 times a week they do individual or group competitions with money prizes. I hate them so much
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Loyal dissenters, as studied by Dominic Packer, are people who strongly identify with their group but *are also capable of dissenting with their group's norms.* They are key agents of reshaping and moving groups toward better. They are, as he calls them in a delightful paper title, "rebels with a cause."
Disrupting the empathy dampening is absolutely possible, and the more you cultivate habits of empathy, the more you become willing to point out hypocritical groups, the more you play this role
All of this is central, not just a "nice to have," when we need groups of knowledge workers to build immensely complex technology.
We'll learn more in the next week!
This is the COUNTDOWN to preorders for THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS on June 23!
In celebration, I'm sharing a new piece of evidence every day from the book and how it helps us understand our minds and build more thriving, joyful communities in technology
️ Sign up for a preorder reminder here:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Software-Teams/Hicks/p/book/9781032963389
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Loyal dissenters, as studied by Dominic Packer, are people who strongly identify with their group but *are also capable of dissenting with their group's norms.* They are key agents of reshaping and moving groups toward better. They are, as he calls them in a delightful paper title, "rebels with a cause."
Disrupting the empathy dampening is absolutely possible, and the more you cultivate habits of empathy, the more you become willing to point out hypocritical groups, the more you play this role
@grimalkina sounds like something that comes naturally to autistic people, at least in my case
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All of this is central, not just a "nice to have," when we need groups of knowledge workers to build immensely complex technology.
We'll learn more in the next week!
This is the COUNTDOWN to preorders for THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOFTWARE TEAMS on June 23!
In celebration, I'm sharing a new piece of evidence every day from the book and how it helps us understand our minds and build more thriving, joyful communities in technology
️ Sign up for a preorder reminder here:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Software-Teams/Hicks/p/book/9781032963389
Every single chapter in the book has its own FULL reference list, so if I'm calling out interesting scientists and studies you want to learn more about, trust that you will have a guide in your hands with this book!
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Mina Cikara's research on intergroup competition (among others) documents that under competition conditions, the empathy gap between us and them can flip into something measurable as pleasure at the other side's failure. People surrounded by narratives of intergroup conflict are more likely to justify violence toward outsiders, and feel more schadenfreude at their misfortune.
We have powerful systems in our minds for empathy, but we also have systems that dampen empathy during threat.
If my memory serves me right, part of what was done during the implementation of the neolib ideology through the 70's was to change the mind of population. Basically they knew neolib was impossible to implement in the social/psychological conditions that existed at the moment as a more collectivist social order was present. They needed to create this self made man in order to make it work. And that implied a lot of what you present here.
In the end, competition is not more natural than mutual aid and that allows us to create a society with the kind of interactions we want just by re arranging the ambiental pressures and the like. That is both terrifying and liberatory... Nothing is fixed in that regard, but at the same time it can be hacked for the worst
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Loyal dissenters, as studied by Dominic Packer, are people who strongly identify with their group but *are also capable of dissenting with their group's norms.* They are key agents of reshaping and moving groups toward better. They are, as he calls them in a delightful paper title, "rebels with a cause."
Disrupting the empathy dampening is absolutely possible, and the more you cultivate habits of empathy, the more you become willing to point out hypocritical groups, the more you play this role
@grimalkina “rebel with a cause” - I feel seen
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@grimalkina “rebel with a cause” - I feel seen
@sandorspruit exactly why I thought this was an important one to put in the book. I know y'all are out there 🫶
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@grimalkina my bf works in sales. About 3 times a week they do individual or group competitions with money prizes. I hate them so much
@sondra final boss of competition cultures for sure
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Loyal dissenters, as studied by Dominic Packer, are people who strongly identify with their group but *are also capable of dissenting with their group's norms.* They are key agents of reshaping and moving groups toward better. They are, as he calls them in a delightful paper title, "rebels with a cause."
Disrupting the empathy dampening is absolutely possible, and the more you cultivate habits of empathy, the more you become willing to point out hypocritical groups, the more you play this role
I'm actively working to disrupt this behavior with one of the high-performing members of my team. He's great, but falls too easily/regularly into the trap of perceived conflict with partner groups and individual stakeholders.
Just one more reason I'm looking forward to your book.
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@sandorspruit exactly why I thought this was an important one to put in the book. I know y'all are out there 🫶
@grimalkina @sandorspruit I read the loyal dissenter post to my wife because I immediately saw myself in it.
Thank you.
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Mina Cikara's research on intergroup competition (among others) documents that under competition conditions, the empathy gap between us and them can flip into something measurable as pleasure at the other side's failure. People surrounded by narratives of intergroup conflict are more likely to justify violence toward outsiders, and feel more schadenfreude at their misfortune.
We have powerful systems in our minds for empathy, but we also have systems that dampen empathy during threat.
@grimalkina I am still horrified by the disdain many software developers have for the people who use the systems they develop.
Whenever I got to work alongside the people using stuff I had a hand in developing I always learned a lot about both the world the software was used in and how misaligned my notions were with the reality.
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Every single chapter in the book has its own FULL reference list, so if I'm calling out interesting scientists and studies you want to learn more about, trust that you will have a guide in your hands with this book!
@grimalkina can’t wait; I’ve got our library set to order it as soon as it can
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@sondra final boss of competition cultures for sure
@grimalkina @sondra What was that George Carlin quote. "Full of bullshit, businessmen. And the proof of it is, they don't even trust each other! When a businessman sits down with another businessman to negotiate a deal, the very first thing he does is assume the other guy is trying to fuck him on the deal. So he has to fuck the other guy a little bit harder and a little bit faster."
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@grimalkina @sondra What was that George Carlin quote. "Full of bullshit, businessmen. And the proof of it is, they don't even trust each other! When a businessman sits down with another businessman to negotiate a deal, the very first thing he does is assume the other guy is trying to fuck him on the deal. So he has to fuck the other guy a little bit harder and a little bit faster."
you want to know who comes out of deal negotiations with everyone winning? business WOMEN
Corinne Low's work is a good start on this: https://www.corinnelow.com/research
Men use overly aggressive tactics against male negotiators, leading to worse outcomes for all:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268122002645
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you want to know who comes out of deal negotiations with everyone winning? business WOMEN
Corinne Low's work is a good start on this: https://www.corinnelow.com/research
Men use overly aggressive tactics against male negotiators, leading to worse outcomes for all:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268122002645
