"Despite conventional wisdom that associates great inventions with lone geniuses, breakthrough inventions are team efforts. Incandescent light bulbs existed before Edison was born. His patent built on prior versions of the light bulb, aiming to make it practical and affordable. Even then, it wasn't a solo achievement-Edison collaborated with a team of skilled collaborators, known as the "Muckers," whose contributions have largely faded from memory. Yet it was Edison's name on the patent, and that's the version of history that stuck."
"We're suckers for lone genius narratives like Edison's-the brilliant scientist, the fearless military general, or the savvy CEO. The version of history we glean from popular books, movies, and the internet attributes greatness to single individuals. But individual greatness is rarely the whole story. Research shows that teams are the main creators of new knowledge across most industries. New ideas don't emerge fully formed from the mind of a single person-it takes collaboration and teamwork to develop them to their full potential."
"We tend to over-attribute both success and failure to individuals. Psychologists call this the fundamental attribution error: we explain people's behavior by their traits, rather than their context. If a product flops, we blame the CEO. If a startup takes off, the founder is a genius. We rarely ask about the teams that surround them. It gets worse. Even inside groups, people regularly overestimate their own contributions to collective endeavors."
Incandescent light bulbs predated Thomas Edison, and his patent improved practicality and affordability by building on earlier designs. Edison worked with a group of skilled collaborators called the "Muckers," whose contributions were significant but often overlooked. Cultural narratives favor lone geniuses, which leads to over-attribution of success and failure to individuals. Empirical research indicates that teams are the primary creators of new knowledge across industries. New ideas typically require collaboration and iterative development to reach their full potential. Psychological biases cause people to overestimate their individual contributions to collective achievements.
Read at Fast Company
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