“’Teamwork’ is an illusion created when the individual components within a human system accomplish a goal that is credited to the collective, rather than to the individual efforts of the components.” That was the theme of a newsletter I received this week. And it certainly made me stop and think. (http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/newsletters/reliable-truth-or-cultural-myth/)
I suppose, by definition, that makes it provocative and there is nothing wrong with provocative when it makes you think more deeply. Yet, in order to create this effect, particularly if aiming to change another’s view, any provocation has to be grounded on a reasonable premise. It must be rational or factual, or – at the very least – apparently factual, in order to hold water. So does this statement? Let’s take a closer look.
The obvious starting point has to be the word ‘teamwork’. Webster’s Dictionary defines this as “Work done with a team. Work done by a number of associates, all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole.” This seems to make it clear that teamwork is collective effort by a number of individuals. So how then can that be an illusion? At the very worst it suggests the subordination of “personal prominence” likely makes any team transitory – something which common sense in any case reinforces.
Turning once again to Webster we learn that an illusion is “1. An unreal or misleading image presented to the vision; a deceptive appearance. 2. State or fact of being deceived; false impression; misconception. 3. A perception which fails to give the true character of an object perceived.” Clearly this is the word on which the writer’s premise hinges. Basically he is saying that there is no such thing as teamwork; there is only the aggregated effort of the individuals in the team. It is hard to argue against this. And yet …
An organisation is a structure consciously created for a specific purpose, and requiring the efforts of any number of people. Think of your organisation: it cannot possibly achieve what it does without the efforts of all those who work for it. That effectively makes it a team. It also suggests that its results have to be the result of teamwork, something the writer tacitly admits when he refers to “accomplishing a goal.” Where is the illusion in that?
The writer uses the analogy of a relay team and says, “What might appear to be teamwork in a relay race is, in truth, just a series of individual runners, each of whom begins their effort with an advantage or a deficit that was handed to them by the previous runner. If a runner increases that advantage or shortens that deficit, he or she was successful. It is only when they are rewarded collectively that we create the illusion of a team.”
Fair point but, without each runner there is no relay team. Their combined effort creates a synergy they cannot achieve as individuals. Furthermore there has to be slick baton work or else it is all in vain anyway. Without all that there is no game – or organisation. So what underpins the team and the sense of team?
For the relay team you would have to say it is either the pride of participation (through being good enough) or the purpose of the relay itself – or both. And it’s not all that different for any other team.
The extent to which each individual subscribes to the common purpose, the greater their individual effort will be – and the more effective their teamwork is likely to be. Collective reward has little or nothing to do with true team development (unless you are planning to rob a bank!)
Consequently I would say that teamwork becomes an illusion when collective reward enters the equation. When:-
- The individuals do not share a common purpose; and/or
- The collective reward does not reflect the effort they personally have put in; or
- The rewards are shared inequitably or disproportionately; and (then)
- They do not put in maximum effort.
Now ask yourself how many of these conditions apply in your organisation. Only then can you honestly determine whether teamwork is fact or fiction – and only for your organisation.
Bay is the founder and director of Zealise, a company created to help larger small to large business organisations to properly value their people and thereby inspire them to optimise their self-worth and so engage them that they transform organisational performance and bottom-line results. Bay is also the author of several books, including “Lean Organisations Need FAT People” and “7 Deadly Toxins of Employee Engagement.”