Topgrading

Biological Parallel

Naked mole rat queens continuously assess worker performance through pheromone signatures and activity levels, demoting or expelling individuals who contribute below colony standards—maintaining an elite workforce of 'A-players' through ruthless culling. Similarly, African wild dog packs ostracize injured or consistently unsuccessful hunters who drain resources. Topgrading formalizes this biological imperative: scarce resources (food, territory, investment capital) favor groups that continuously replace underperformers with higher contributors, even when individuals are 'adequate.'