A-Players

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The difference between average and best performers is modest in most places. In the service industry it's maybe a 30% increase. In goods it might be something like 20%. However, in creative places good and great have a wide range. Steve Jobs built teams of "A players," the people whose performance exceeded 50:1. Jobs attributed much of his success to finding these exceptional individuals. "By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things." That's how the original Mac team was A players and the environment became self-sustaining. This is how the original Mac team works. An environment with high pressure without a player would put a player members considered to be some of the most fulfilling times were in their careers. A leader's job in a team of A players is balancing high performance and burn out among their members.