Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Negative Effects of Being the Best

The book The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard is the story of the author's experience being part of the 1911-1912 trip to the South Pole lead by Robert F. Scott who famously died with four others on the way back from the pole. In the book, it is noted that one of the problems that ended up unnecessarily wearing down man and animal (horses and dogs) was overwork of those willing to volunteer to accomplish the necessary tasks in the year preceding the actual trip to the pole while preparations were made on the coast on Antarctica.

I think this points to a general truism about human behavior that has unfortunate consequences: we give more work to those either willing to do it or who are better at it, often resulting in their being overworked and wearing out and becoming ineffective or getting burned out and quitting. This is a problem needs to be remembered.

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