4 ms·

this is where playing a team sport like basketball (where all the players are "equal" to start) can give you useful intuition about natural hierarchies. on a te

this is where playing a team sport like basketball (where all the players are "equal" to start) can give you useful intuition about natural hierarchies. on a team (makeshift or otherwise) players naturally sort themselves out by roles and capabilities dynamically, without explicitly deciding or planning everything out before hand. you quickly figure out who can shoot, drive, pass, defend, etc. on offense, one person typically has the best ball-handling (dribbling and passing) skills, so that's the person who "leads", but often someone else is better at scoring, so that person "leads" the scoring effort. someone else anchors the defense and will literally command people to shift around on the fly. while hierarchical, it's fluid and dynamic, so more like the idealized "flat" hierarchy that's become such a fashionable term.

bombcar 4y ago
The difficulty comes when there are decisions to be made, and it's not obvious things like "give the ball to the person who can score". At some point there will be 50/50 decisions, and someone has to make the call; that person we call the "leader".
- kqr 4y ago
  No. If there's a 50/50 decision, none of the options are good and you need to work out a third. Or at least discuss and adjust the available options a bit more until you get a clear majority to support one of the options. The worst thing you can do in a 50/50 situation is to just make a call and steamroll the other side. You're very likely making a bad decision and enemies at the same time.
- clairity 4y ago
  passing the ball to the scorer is in fact a harder decision that you claim because it butts right up against the personal ego (to score yourself and garner the esteem that comes with that). there's even a term for that: ball hog. also, the best shooter isn't always obvious nor a static quality. "best" is dynamic, based on the ever-shifting conditions on the court, and the winning strategy is to find that person dynamically in the middle of action, when opportunities are slim and fleeting. as @kqr alluded, 50/50 decisions are a sign of the lack of leadership, rather than a tool to reveal it.

bombcar 4y ago

The difficulty comes when there are decisions to be made, and it's not obvious things like "give the ball to the person who can score". At some point there will be 50/50 decisions, and someone has to make the call; that person we call the "leader".

kqr 4y ago
No. If there's a 50/50 decision, none of the options are good and you need to work out a third. Or at least discuss and adjust the available options a bit more until you get a clear majority to support one of the options. The worst thing you can do in a 50/50 situation is to just make a call and steamroll the other side. You're very likely making a bad decision and enemies at the same time.
clairity 4y ago
passing the ball to the scorer is in fact a harder decision that you claim because it butts right up against the personal ego (to score yourself and garner the esteem that comes with that). there's even a term for that: ball hog. also, the best shooter isn't always obvious nor a static quality. "best" is dynamic, based on the ever-shifting conditions on the court, and the winning strategy is to find that person dynamically in the middle of action, when opportunities are slim and fleeting. as @kqr alluded, 50/50 decisions are a sign of the lack of leadership, rather than a tool to reveal it.