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The Too-Much-Talent Effect: Team Interdependence Determines When More Talent Is Too Much Or Not Enough, Roderick I. Swaab, Michael Schaerer, Eric M. Anicich, Richard Ronay, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Five studies examined the relationship between talent and team performance. Two survey studies found that people believe there is a linear and nearly monotonic relationship between talent and performance: Participants expected that more talent improves performance and that this relationship never turns negative. However, building off research on status conflicts, we predicted that talent facilitates performance—but only up to a point, after which the benefits of more talent decrease and eventually become detrimental as intrateam coordination suffers. We also predicted that the level of task interdependence is a key determinant of when more talent is detrimental rather than beneficial. Three …