A Preliminary Model of Participation

We present the case for a preliminary organizational model of participation. We review a simulation of the Battle of Medenine with respect to its ability to approximate the historic record. We find that individuals in the actual battle performed with greater variance than the simulation predicted, suggesting that individual differences are important. Using a light-weight simulation, we implement one means of representing these differences based in part upon Grossman’s (1995) participation formula. We demonstrate that our preliminary version of the formula can generate individual differences, which in turn have a meaningful impact on group performance. Work remains to improve the formula and its application.