Do Smart People make Smart Decisions?

When you’re putting together the ideal team, you have all the choice in the world. So, of course you choose a team with only the best people. It seems easy enough and a guarantee for success! But, is this actually the case?

Wim Gijselaers is currently Head of the Department of Educational Research and Development at Maastricht University’s School of Business and Economics. His research interests include leadership development, organisational learning, team learning and expertise development. Previous research projects include: Understanding the impact of learning culture on professional performance and team decisions, leadership behaviour and team learning, and cognitive approaches to leadership development. His educational development work focused on the further development of Problem-Based Learning in Business Education.

If you could choose the best people for your team, would that be the most important criterion for you? “No”, says Wim firmly. “To cut a long story short, when I take on new people, I ask them if they are into music. If the answer is no, but they do sport at a high level, then I already start having some doubts. It is a kind of naive theory. I once started this way to compose my group and it has proven its value,” says the professor. It is beginning to bother Wim more and more that success is linked to the cleverness of individuals. He has noticed in his career that working in a team makes people function better. “That is the key to success. Smartness only contributes to a limited extent”.