Interesting article on Slate about the impact of Tiger Woods on other golfers' performance. One would assume that playing with a superior golfer would raise the performance of other golfers. But evidently, when that golfer is Tiger Woods, so superior at his game, the reward structure is reduced and incentive to win is also therefore reduced.

At work, we all may be looking to hire the "rock star", but really, could it be best to hire just strong performers? When evaluating performance, those that work hardest will likely be those that feel they have a chance at being the best. When there's one standout, it could potentially be demoralizing for the tier two (and still very productive) performers. It's interesting to think that for the good of the team, you may not always hire the Tiger Woods (and seriously, who wouldn't just hire him anyway?). I think that the successful manager, when given an opportunity to hire someone exceptional, would start to think about whether they could use that person to raise the collective performance level on the team.