been a major contributor to a movie that grossed more than $527 million. He has won seven Emmy
Awards and invented several words that have entered English dictionaries—one of which was uttered
every day by my college roommate for four years. But he is most celebrated for his role in a
television phenomenon that has changed the world. Insiders maintain that as much as any other person,
he is responsible for the success of the show that Time magazine named the single best television
series of the twentieth century.
In 1981, at the recommendation of two friends, Meyer sent a few writing samples to a new NBC
show called Late Night with David Letterman. “Everything in his submission, down to the last little
detail, was so beautifully honed,” Letterman gushed to Owen. “I haven’t run across anybody quite like
that since.” During the first season, Meyer invented what was to become one of Letterman’s signature
routines: using a steam roller to crush ordinary objects, like pieces of fruit. After two years with
Letterman, Meyer left to work on The New Show with Lorne Michaels and then joined Saturday
Night Live, departing in 1987 to write a script for a Letterman movie that was ultimately shelved.
When Meyer’s two friends recommended him to Letterman, they called him “the funniest man in
America.” This wasn’t a statement to be taken lightly—the two went on to become an Emmy-winning
pair of comedy writers on shows like Seinfeld, The Wonder Years, and Monk. And if you look at
what George Meyer has accomplished since he finished the Letterman movie script, you might be
inclined to agree with them.
George Meyer is the mastermind of much of the humor on The Simpsons, the longest-running
sitcom and animated program in America.
The Simpsons has won twenty-seven prime-time Emmy Awards, six of which went to Meyer, and
changed the face of animated comedy. Although Meyer didn’t launch The Simpsons—it was created
by Matt Groening and developed with James L. Brooks and Sam Simon—there is widespread
consensus that Meyer was the most important force behind the show’s success. Meyer was hired to
write for The Simpsons before it premiered in 1989, and he was a major contributor for sixteen
seasons as a writer and executive producer. Meyer “has so thoroughly shaped the program that by
now the comedic sensibility of The Simpsons could be viewed as mostly his,” writes Owen.
According to humor writer Mike Sacks, “Meyer is largely considered among the writing staff to be its
behind-the-scenes genius among geniuses,” the man “responsible for the best lines and jokes.” Jon
Vitti, one of the original Simpsons writers who authored many of the early episodes and later served
as a producer on The Office, elaborated that Meyer is “the one in the room who writes more of the
show than anyone else—his fingerprints are on nearly every script. He exerts as much influence on
the show as anyone can without being one of the creators.”
How does a man like George Meyer become so successful in collaborative work? Reciprocity
styles offer a powerful lens for explaining why some people flourish in teams while others fail. In
Multipliers, former Oracle executive Liz Wiseman distinguishes between geniuses and genius
makers. Geniuses tend to be takers: to promote their own interests, they “drain intelligence, energy,
and capability” from others. Genius makers tend to be givers: they use their “intelligence to amplify
the smarts and capabilities” of other people, Wiseman writes, such that “lightbulbs go off over
people’s heads, ideas flow, and problems get solved.” My goal in this chapter is to explore how these
differences between givers and takers affect individual and group success.
michael s
(Michael S)
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