When we place too much importance on individuals’ ‘brilliance’, what do we lose?

The ‘troubled genius’ is an enduring character in popular culture. 

Think of the protagonist from the medical drama House: he’s curmudgeonly and often extremely hard to work with – much to the frustration of his hospital colleagues. But his intelligence is accepted as inherent and important. 

Social psychologist Dr Andrea Vial says this character evokes the idea of “brilliance” she and colleagues considered in a recent study published in Psychological Science earlier this year. 

“There’s this notion of the brilliant jerk at work – someone who’s exceptionally brilliant, but also kind of socially abrasive and hostile. However, this gets brushed off or accepted. We want the brilliance, so we tolerate the nastiness,” she says. 

While intelligence or competence are generally considered something a person can improve upon or work towards, she says brilliance is often thought of as a fixed trait. 

“Brilliance is something that people tend to think about as being innate – you either have it or you don’t. It’s this idea of the inborn genius with natural talent.” 

These qualities translate to real-life figures too and are particularly prized in certain industries – think of the lasting impact Steve Jobs has left on tech and the culture of Silicon Valley. 

You may have come across similar colleagues or leaders throughout your career – or be part of an industry that celebrates these kinds of attributes. 

In their study, Vial and her fellow researchers Dr Melis Muradoglu, Andrei Cimpian, and George Newman wanted to ascertain how an emphasis on individual brilliance impacts a workplace’s culture – and how this can, in turn, impact gender diversity.  

They surveyed people from more than 30 different academic fields and conducted studies with a group of non-academic employees. 

Muradoglu, co-author of the paper, says they found a link between how people perceive brilliance in their field and aggressively competitive cultures.  

“[It can create] a workplace that’s characterised by intense devotion to work, competitiveness, and a zero-sum mindset,” she says.

So how might this be playing out in your organisation and how can you make sure it’s not negatively impacting your culture? 

Toxic competition 

The research shows, in the extreme, an over-emphasis on brilliance can breed a ruthlessly competitive workplace culture. 

Muradoglu says the phenomenon – sometimes called “masculinity contest culture” (MCC) in organisational psychology – can result in “dog-eat-dog thinking”. 

“A workplace climate like this might result in an unwillingness to help your colleagues; or people may be more likely to withhold rather than share helpful resources or their time,” she says.

It could also show up as dismissiveness towards other people’s ideas, monopolising speaking time in meetings or, in the extreme, outward hostility towards co-workers. 

Vial says it can even lead to unethical practices, such as hiding or covering up problems.

“If you can’t ever show any weakness, then you can’t be forthcoming when you make a mistake,” she says. 

Low psychological safety 

When left unchecked, this kind of overly competitive environment can cause our sense of psychological safety to plummet. 

It can also stifle innovation, creativity and organisational growth, says Vial.

“For example, when people are striving to be seen as the most intelligent person in the room, somebody might suggest an idea and then somebody else might tear it down just because they’re competitive, regardless of the merit of the idea.”

“There’s this notion of the brilliant jerk at work – someone who’s exceptionally brilliant, but also kind of socially abrasive and hostile. However, this gets brushed off or accepted. We want the brilliance, so we tolerate the nastiness.” – Dr Andrea Vial

It can leave people feeling fearful and unmotivated, she adds, and it can also negatively impact retention. 

Crucially, the researchers found that people who thought that individual brilliance was especially prized in their field reported a lower sense of belonging than those who thought it was considered less important. 

Gender imbalance 

Previous research has found that brilliance-valuing industries can lead to gender imbalances and a lack of diversity in workforces. Vial says their research paper wanted to explore why that is the case. 

A key link they found is that women are sometimes deterred from considering a job or industry if they perceive it to be overly competitive. 

Or, if they are working within such an industry, they may experience increased feelings of impostor phenomenon – and potentially not stick around for very long.  

These cultures also have the potential to stifle attraction efforts. For example, one component of the research asked participants to consider a job advertisement. 

They found candidates who read brilliant-oriented language and were told by a third party that the culture wasn’t tolerant of weakness were deterred from applying.

In other words, a perceived emphasis on individual brilliance primed people to see the culture in a negative light.  

“This idea of brilliance leads to a perception that the culture is going to [be toxic]. That then lowers people’s interest in joining that company and leads them to anticipate worse psychological wellbeing – especially women,” says Vial. 

She says changing perceptions about the link between brilliance and aggressive competition is key, and HR has a role to play, starting with the language used in the recruitment and onboarding process. 

Muradoglu agrees that decoupling ideas of toughness and brilliance is possible – and helpful for unwinding toxic competition. 

If you take away the idea that “it looks weak if you seek other people’s advice… then people’s interest in joining that company is preserved,” she says.

Three ways to challenge perceptions of brilliance 

Changing an organisation’s culture is like scaling a mountain – it’s a massive endeavour and takes time, perseverance and patience.

While change won’t happen overnight, there are a few things organisations can do to head in the right direction.

1. Set the tone early on 

To avoid candidates perceiving your culture to be overly competitive before they even apply, HR could consider the use of language in job ads and the recruitment process. 

For example, this might look like talking about someone’s adaptability rather than raw intellect, or highlighting your organisation’s learning culture, rather than its propensity to elevate star players.

“The extent to which HR can be involved in shaping those norms and perceptions of collegiality – and how much this is valued in our organisation – goes a long way, both in terms of recruiting the right people and retaining them,” says Vial.

2. Model healthy behaviours

Muradoglu says behaviour modelling from leaders is also imperative. 

“Part of MCC is this intense devotion to work; maybe you see other people staying at the office late, coming in early or not prioritising things outside of work – those are sort of concrete ways that [competition] manifests in the workplace.”

She says, to avoid cementing an overly dominant leadership style, those with influence within the organisation should be seen to practice strong work–life balance.

It’s also important that leaders are aware of the impacts of their praise and recognition. 

Before publicly showering an employee with praise for meeting their KPIs, consider how they got there. Did they bring others along on the journey? Were they cooperative and kind natured? Or did they step on others to achieve their results?

Encourage leaders to be cognisant of the behaviours they endorse – even if unintentionally.

3. Cultivate psychological safety 

A psychologically safe culture is one where people feel they can speak up, respectfully disagree with others, and share their perspectives without fear of retribution.

Leaders can help cultivate this by placing more emphasis on collaboration, collegiality and sharing of ideas – to help steer away from toxic competition.

Vial says, when psychological safety is increased, it has benefits across the gender spectrum and, although it may seem hard to achieve, is worth striving for. 

“[Culture change] is difficult to tackle, but maybe we should be bolder and start asking the big questions, such as: ‘How can we shape those norms into something else?’ We know norms can be changed – so we should try to change them.”

Looking for ways to reimagine your company’s culture? AHRI’s short course will help you define the professional and ethical principles which guide your organisation, and understand HR’s role in building an ethical workplace culture.