Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose and Tours of Duty

Tonight I have two thoughts about team building.

The first comes from an article that discusses team building. It talks about how high GPA/SATs and elite universities on a resume are poor predictors of success, especially for a challenging work environment like a startup. I agree. Along these lines the article states that the best employees are not looking for artificial external recognition (e.g. high GPA/SATs and elite universities), but rather the best employees seek for autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

The second comes from Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn who posted a fantastic slidedeck (below) talking about the employee/employer relationship. He suggests tours of duty as an appropriate metaphor for the way those relationships should be structured.

What are your thoughts on these team building ideas?