Start up teams are by their very nature small and highly focused teams, where people are expected to contribute in a huge variety of ways. In a world in which passengers are terminal, having the best talent can make or break a startup.
Things may not be as simple as recruiting star inventors however, as new research from the University of Washington demonstrates. It suggests that star inventors can often rub up against company founders rather than compliment each other.
“When you have high-powered innovation teams, members need to be able to work together and be able to defer to each other,” the researchers explain. “Conflicts may arise when you have team members who both think they are the experts.”
The perfect mix
The researchers explored the relationship between founders and their star employees in various innovation teams. A particular focus was given to the ease and effectiveness of collaboration, and the output of those teams in terms of new products.
“We found that the presence of both the star employee and the founder within a company has a positive effect on the firm’s performance, but when you have both of them together on a team, the outcomes can become diminished,” the researchers say.
So what is the best approach to take? The authors suggest that founders should not necessarily refrain from hiring stars to their team, but when doing so should have a number of things in place, including a clear chain of command within the team and ensuring that the new recruit has experience working in a startup environment.
Different skills
Founders have a fundamentally different means of influence than star employees, and have to be treated as such. Whereas founders’ influence typically comes from their status in the hierarchy of the business, the star employees’ influence comes from their track record.
If roles aren’t clearly defined then it’s very easy for conflicts and disagreements around the direction of the team and the strategy for achieving its objectives, which can be extremely damaging to the success of the business.
The past experience of the ‘star’ can also have a profound impact on their ability to collaborate effectively with founders. For instance, if the star has previously worked in a small organization, they’re much more likely to function well in a startup environment.
Startups are typically a more informal environment that requires collaborative working between the small founding team. Operating in such a way requires a more egalitarian mindset whereby hierarchy doesn’t really exist and everyone mucks in where they can.
If you’ve come from a large organization with the trappings and status of hierarchy then it can be a difficult transition to make. It can be tempting to think of a star addition in purely additive terms, but the reality is that it can easily backfire if not managed well. This research provides a salient reminder of that fact.
