Creating Collaboration: In the Classroom and Elsewhere

Wharton School of Business professor Adam Grant no longer grades his students on a curve—an evaluation method that pits students against one another, since only a certain number can get A’s. Instead, he offers bonus points on exams if students who do not know an answer themselves can identify which students do know it.
 

Grant, an organizational psychologist who is also the author of the book Give and Take, based his new approach on research, specifically:
 

• A comprehensive analysis of 168 studies of more than 51,000 employees across industries showing that the time employees spend helping others contributes as much to their performance evaluations and promotion rates as how well they do their jobs.
• His own decade-long study of jobs in engineering, medicine and sales, showing that although in the short run “takers” may be more successful, “givers” achieved better results over time.

 
Grant wrote in The New York Times: “Essentially, I was trying to build a collaborative culture with a reward system where one person’s success benefited someone else. It was a small offering — two points on a 120-point exam — but it made a big difference. More students started studying together in small groups, then the groups started pooling their knowledge.”
 
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If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion

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