No Prima Donnas Needed

For example, one IT shop had a fellow who was, by 10 times, the best programmer/developer in the group. Unfortunately, the guy was a total jerk. He helped no one, criticized and insulted everyone, and behaved as if the organization couldn't afford to lose him. He was, by far, its best-paid IT person. His designs and code were uniformly excellent and unusually well-documented. The cherry on top was that the CFO publicly described him as the company's most productive employee.

He was fired. How and why? Knowing how "valuable" he was, the gentleman procured a job offer from a competitor and used it in an effort to jack up his already considerable compensation package. Management caved.

Then, the CFO (I'm reliably told) had an epiphany. The business was growing too dependent on the man's undeniable skills. The group's morale was miserable; everyone else's productivity was flat; and the internal clients were exhausted by a prima donna who always delivered the goods but did so in the most condescending, "geez you're a moron" manner.

Yes, he was offered counselling. He rejected it. He left in a huff of severance. And for a while, the team's productivity suffered. They simply couldn't do as much without him. But morale skyrocketed. Everyone else's productivity improved. Problems are solved with less rancour. Reliability without volatility has become the new norm. The CIO and CFO no longer fear blackmail.

Closer to home, I was consulting to a Fortune 500 IT shop on improving collaboration between the technologists and the business units. The culture was very polite and non-confrontational. Too polite. It frequently took weeks to get to the guts of a process design conflict. My professional opinion was that these delays were unhealthy and unproductive.

My client disagreed. He brought me into his office, closed the door and - very politely and non-confrontationally - informed me that the company took great pride in its "consensus culture". My persistent pushing, prodding and poking of the process managers was unacceptable behaviour. While my insights and contributions were invaluable, he didn't want me dealing with his people any more. Yes, I was fired.

Was this the right decision? Would I have preferred a chance to moderate my impatience? Perhaps. In the final analysis, one serves at the pleasure of the client. What's more: My removal sent a clear signal to the organization about what was - and what wasn't - acceptable behaviour in promoting interdepartmental collaboration. Canning a consultant is surely less traumatic than sacking an employee. Which is precisely the reason why sacking the right employee has so much potential as a high-impact managerial tool. Yes, I know that personnel departments get nervous about canning the incompetent. Yes, firing people with families can be harsh. Yes, individuals should be given a fair shot at professional rehabilitation.

But when a CIO or a mission-critical IT manager is looking for an unambiguous way to let the troops know that she supports them - really, sincerely - pulling the trigger is the most ruthlessly cost-effective way to do so. If you don't have the courage to get rid of those who undermine productivity and performance, then it's painfully clear who really deserves to be fired.

Michael Schrage is co-director of the MIT Media Lab's eMarkets Initiative