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The Nut Island effect. When good teams go wrong.

P F Levy1

  • 1Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

Harvard Business Review
|March 15, 2001
PubMed
Summary
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Dedicated teams can fail due to isolation and lack of management support, creating the "Nut Island effect." This organizational dynamic, where isolated teams hide problems, leads to catastrophic failures despite initial commitment.

Area of Science:

  • Organizational Behavior
  • Management Studies
  • Industrial Psychology

Background:

  • The Nut Island sewage treatment plant team exemplified dedication and self-sufficiency.
  • Despite exceptional performance and commitment, the team experienced catastrophic failure.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and explain the destructive organizational dynamic known as the "Nut Island effect."
  • To warn managers about the dangers of overlooking isolated teams and unseen operational problems.

Main Methods:

  • Case study analysis of the Nut Island sewage treatment plant.
  • Identification of common organizational dynamics leading to team failure.

Main Results:

  • The "Nut Island effect" arises when committed, isolated teams lack management support.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Teams develop an "us-against-the-world" mentality, hiding operational issues.
  • Management's inattention and the team's self-sufficiency mask critical performance deficiencies.

    • Conclusions:

    • Isolated teams, even highly committed ones, can fail without proper oversight and support.
    • Managers must address "behind-the-scenes" operations to prevent hidden, debilitating problems.
    • The "Nut Island effect" highlights the risks of focusing solely on visible organizational shortcomings.