Once upon a time there was an enterprising businessman with a brilliant idea. He thought he had found a way to build the perfect car.
He hired a team of young engineers and told them to buy every single model car in the world, dismantle it, pick the best parts of every car and put them in a special room. In no time, the room was full of parts: the best carburetors, the best brakes, the best handles, transmissions. It was a masterpiece collection with over 5,000 total parts.
The businessman then assembled all the parts into one car. The problem was he had only one. The car didn’t work. Parts did not work together.
The point is, you can have a great individualistic all-star team, but it’s no match for a group of people with common purpose and harmony.
My definition of teamwork is a diverse collection of individuals who respect each other and are committed to each other’s success.
Teamwork sometimes requires you to play roles that are not as attractive as people would like them to be.
A symphony orchestra conductor was asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. Without missing a beat, the conductor replied:
Teamwork is unknowingly avoided by most people in business. They think it will make them anonymous or invisible.
It should not be different from the truth.
That’s why sports usually don’t win teams with more superstars. From the late 1950s to his mid-1970s, the Boston Celtics won his 13th NBA championship, but never became the league’s leading scorer. They did it with amazing teamwork. The Celtics leader of that era was the recently deceased Bill Russell. Russell was his first player on the team, but in 1980 basketball he was named the best player in NBA history by Reiter.
Michael Jordan, a player considered by many to be the GOAT, said:
This advice extends far beyond the sports field. Your company works as a team or is headed to the shower.
American industry became a world leader when it came up with the concept of an assembly line that combined the capabilities of humans and robots. Working together is essential to success, and that hasn’t changed over the years.
There is no better example of teamwork than a good marriage. Many years ago in Austria there was a custom for villagers to help gauge the future happiness of newlywed couples. Standing in front of a large tree, he handed him a double-handled saw and asked him to use it to cut the tree. under. The villagers watched a young couple saw a tree, with the bride on one end of the saw and the groom on the other.
The more cooperation a couple has, the less time it takes for a tree to fall. And the older villagers wisely reasoned that the shorter the time, the happier the young couple would be.
McKay’s morals: don’t want to be number one upon team.aim for the best for team.
Harvey Mackay is a businessman from Minneapolis. Contact him at 612-378-6202 or email harvey@mackay.com.
