In 2001, Paul F. Levy released a study called “When Good Teams Go Wrong,” in which he named the indescribable phenomenon of efficient teams getting isolated from top management as ‘The Nut Island effect. ‘ He mentioned the Nut Island sewage treatment plant case study, which was disbanded in 1998 for this exact reason.
The Nut Island sewage treatment plant was opened to serve the city of Boston and alleviate wastewater problems in Boston Harbor. Since its opening, it has received much praise for its futuristic design. The plant was said to treat the southern half of the metropolitan area.
By the mid-1960s, the facility was rife with internal conflicts and inefficiencies. However, a team of dedicated workers was hired to manage the plant. This team of hand workers turned the plant into a model of efficiency and thrived in its self-sufficient environment.
However, the self-sufficiency led to isolation from upper management, who also became preoccupied with more conspicuous issues. Nut Island then received insufficient funding and support for its maintenance.
The employees started to worry more about an effective operation than fulfilling their prime mission of cleaning Boston Harbor. Their primary goal was to “pose as an efficient plant” rather than “address the waste problem.” The changes in priorities eventually led to the dangerous practices of using poisonous chemicals and bypassing procedures, which finally helped discharge untreated sewage into the harbor.
Though committed and willing to work overtime, the Nut Island team did not see much improvement in water quality for three decades. The plant’s management and staff got stuck in their routine, forgot why they were originally put there, and did whatever was convenient and safe.
After years of trying to achieve efficiency and striving for operational improvement, the Nut Island team was broken up in 1998.
What are the phases of the Nut Island Effect?
The collapse of a team due to Nut Island effect is not a sudden occurrence, it is a series of events that finally lead to collapse. The Nut Island Effect goes through five phases:
1. Management Distraction: The managers get busy with other issues and expect the team to fend for itself.
2. Assumptions and Resentment: The scenario of managerial unconcern creates resentment in the minds of members of the team.
3. De Facto Separation: Team begins to keep itself apart from the management and only grants limited communication.
4. Self Rule: In the face of external pressures, the group enforces its own rules, and these, with their weaknesses, are hidden failures.
5. Chronic Collapse: Poor management along with bad self-rule leads to a sequence of collapses and ultimately operational collapse.
The nut-island effect occurs when teams are highly efficient and can work autonomously or semi-autonomously, which isolates them from management, who is more focused on other issues.
Preventing the Nut Island effect for managers is like toeing a thin line between giving autonomy to an abled team and keeping regular tabs on them. Managers must set specific levels for a project; if the team fails to achieve that level, they should be held accountable. Moreover, the communication channel between the teams and the top leadership should always be open. The presence of management will fight the sense of isolation within the team, and they will feel that they are being listened to.
To prevent a repeat of the Nut Island episode, management must identify the patterns and stay in touch with all teams to combat the feeling of isolation.
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