Six Simple Rules: How to Manage Complexity without Getting Complicated

6

Simple Rule Six

Reward Those Who Cooperate

Rule six is the third of the three simple rules that impel people to best use their judgment and energy to deal with complexity. Although all three of these rules rely on the creation of feedback loops, the loops of rules four and five are direct. Rule six, by contrast, is indirect.

Sometimes, the nature of tasks and activities is such that feedback can only come indirectly—through the judgment and evaluation made by other people, usually managers—and rule six is about creating this kind of feedback loop. This type of indirect feedback loop may be necessary when there is a long time lag between causes and effects, or when jobs are so insulated from one another that people in those jobs are immune ...