14.

You keep a record for each person. It shows how many visits they make, how often they help with training, and any other jobs where they are away from the phone and cannot earn commission. Richard Morgan usually makes the highest commission each month, but whenever the others complain, you are able to quote your record to show there has been no unfairness. Once this is sorted out, meetings do not seem to cause a problem either. You realise that what you had taken as staff unrest was, in fact, just signs of rivalry over who made the most sales, and therefore earned the most.

You are pleased to be able to recommend Richard for promotion a few months later, and you notice that the new 'top earner' soon attracts similar complaints of unfairness. But most of the team are willing to accept the record as proof that they all have equal chances.

That is the end of this maze. You could think about the dangers in competitive teams and how to cope with them.