The book by Belbin is a management-theory book. The use of "Apollo" in the book is casual and not a rigorous comparison.
From the original book by Belbin:
"The welcome opportunity afforded to us [...] to
form management teams much as we liked for the executive management exercise (EME) gave us the chance to draw up teams that differed from one another in measured mental ability. Teams of clever people were formed and compared with dullard and other teams. [...]
"In the past we had designated companies by letters of the alphabet – Company A
would meet in the room normally occupied by Syndicate A in the usual Henley
experiments, Company B in Syndicate B’s room, and so on. For a change, we
decided to give our companies names instead of the more impersonal letters. The
name said something about the company while still indicating the room in which it should convene.
"For what would hitherto have been our A company we chose the title Apollo
(chosen out of respect for the American lunar triumph at the time) and into this
alpha-type company we placed the members who were high scoring on the
measures of mental ability. The individual scores were of course confidential but there was an immediate reaction from the bulk of course members. The Apollo
company was immediately recognized for what it was and seen as a blatant attempt
by the experimenters to form a company that was bound to win. When very clever
people are put together in a group, there is no disguising the fact.
[...] It seemed fairly obvious that a team of clever people should win in a game that placed an emphasis on cleverness.
"[...] The Apollo team generally finished last.
= = =
Ref: Management Teams - Why They Succeed or Fail, (Belbin, 1981), ISBN: 0-7506-0253-8
From the original book by Belbin:
"The welcome opportunity afforded to us [...] to form management teams much as we liked for the executive management exercise (EME) gave us the chance to draw up teams that differed from one another in measured mental ability. Teams of clever people were formed and compared with dullard and other teams. [...]
"In the past we had designated companies by letters of the alphabet – Company A would meet in the room normally occupied by Syndicate A in the usual Henley experiments, Company B in Syndicate B’s room, and so on. For a change, we decided to give our companies names instead of the more impersonal letters. The name said something about the company while still indicating the room in which it should convene.
"For what would hitherto have been our A company we chose the title Apollo (chosen out of respect for the American lunar triumph at the time) and into this alpha-type company we placed the members who were high scoring on the measures of mental ability. The individual scores were of course confidential but there was an immediate reaction from the bulk of course members. The Apollo company was immediately recognized for what it was and seen as a blatant attempt by the experimenters to form a company that was bound to win. When very clever people are put together in a group, there is no disguising the fact. [...] It seemed fairly obvious that a team of clever people should win in a game that placed an emphasis on cleverness.
"[...] The Apollo team generally finished last.
= = =
Ref: Management Teams - Why They Succeed or Fail, (Belbin, 1981), ISBN: 0-7506-0253-8