The Sanford Berenberg Experience: Message of the Day

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Message of the Day - What a Team is NOT

Good Morning,

Yesterday morning I was talking to my wife, Karen, and our conversation kindled a thought about teams. We weren't talking about teams, but through conversation, my mind forms many ideas. Talking through problems is my favorite, and most productive, method of solution, and I thank those who are trapped listening to me as my mind weaves solutions.

Anyway; when we look at teams and envision the best of the best we tend to look at high performance teams as being well oiled machines. That is the gold standard and what all teams hope to achieve. The ability to work extremely well with each other, to flawlessly interact and hand the baton off to the next team member just at the right time in just the right place, etc.

As a well oiled machine, though, the V-8 engine of a Mustang, or any car of your choice, would NOT make a great team if we looked at the cylinders of the engine as the members of the team. Sure the cylinders fire precisely at the right time and they give the precise amount of effort, create the right amount of pressure and do the precise amount of work, but they would ultimately fail as a member of a high performance team.

Why?

Because each of the eight cylinders of the engine are nearly identical to each other.

Look at any top performing team and you will see 'unique individuals' working together. They may wear the same uniform and know the same skills, but each one is ultimately different from each other. No two are alike, much less eight.

As teams are made up as individuals, then training a team to work like a well oiled V-8 would be an impossibility. No eight people could become eight completely interchangeable person. Sure people can take on the tasks of another and fill in when necessary, but going down to the core of the person, everyone is different. For example, I have an MBA, but do I know everything that any other MBA knows? Probably not.

A well oiled machine then would be one with different cylinders, one for each of the different people you have on or within your team. This then would be a troublesome V-8 with different sized and shaped cylinders.

Building a team with the allowances of individuals working together opens the door for greater achievement as it is far easier to be yourself than it is fill the role of someone you are not. With all of our differences, strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, becoming the well oiled machine will look different in each case, and may not even remotely resemble the very cool and powerful Mustang V-8 engine.

And that is okay, because a high performance team is not a bunch of replicants, but individuals contributing their person and unique best to the benefit of the entire team.

Now go out there and be yourself and help your team win!