What is Nut Island Effect:?
The ‘Nut Island Effect’ is a strange phenomenon observed in workplaces where the talented employees would become separated from the managers, thereby making it nearly impossible to perform any tasks.
American author Paul F. Levy coined the term in an article that listed out a 5 step process which leads to the Nut Island effect:
Management Distraction: The management might be consumed busy with some other work thus ignoring the current team.
Presumptions: The management understands that the team will be able to run independent of their assistance and starts actively ignoring them.
Separation: The team realizes that the management is ignoring them and starts resenting them.
Self-rule: The team creates self-imposed rules and regulations to achieve full autonomy.
Chronic Collapse: The management becomes aware of the indifference by the team and the team also realizes the same leading to repeated failures and eventual collapse.