Typical definition is to work with the members of your team to achieve the goals set out for the team.
How and when did this definition become "follow the orders, dont think. Do the small tasks, dont question, comply"!! I even attended a management course that were teaching "The Art of Coersion"!!! Do we really need to manage our team mates to be a good team??
I was watching my mates kid play with his new friends. The kids are about 4 years old give or take. My mate has an open plan kitchen and dining area, so we were constantly watching the kids as we cooked the dinner. If you have 5 kids together it is fun to watch them play, but something caught my attention about this group. The kids were meeting each other for the first time ( there were my mates neighbours kids and they have recently moved houses ) and yet within five minutes there were all so engrossed in what they were doing that if someone would have entered the room 15 min down the line, they would have thought that these kids knew each other since they were born!! It was almost magical how they laughed, shrieked, disagreed, pushed and yet thoroughly enjoyed building the lego castle. As much as I enjoyed watching the kids play, I couldn’t stop myself from drifting away ( yes the cooking suffered as a result and my mate wasn’t happy that he had to say everything 2 or 3 times!! ). Watching those kids play, I thought to myself we are naturally tuned to get along with each other even though we may not necessarily be each other best mates and how team work comes naturally ( even to kids, who taught them!!?? ). So this naturally opens up many a questions… why is teamwork so hard when we grow up? What changes happen? How is something that comes to us so naturally, then has to be taught to us at a later stage in our life??
The number of ‘management courses’ telling us the importance of team work and how to get along with people ( Please don’t shout at your colleagues!! Yes this was the management advice given to us at a management course that I recently attended. I have written about it in one of my earlier blogs http://bizcovering.com/management/leadership-lead-by-example-naaaah/ ). Infact give examples how you have excelled in team work by far takes the biscuit as far as questions at the interviews are concerned!!
I have already written about how I think good leaders are not the ones who lead by example but the ones who create the right environment for the ‘stars’ in their group to come up with solutions. I believe it is the easiest way to not only get the job done ( not be called a meddlesome boss ) but also the best way to let the next generation of leaders rise organically from the group. On similar lines, I don’t agree with the modern day definition of team work. Modern day definition of team work very much follows on the lines of modern day definition of leader. Both have their origins in the top down approach to management followed by the military. In active combat, creativity kills, and more importantly can kill your mates and hence a very strict chain of command is maintained and implemented. However, we don’t have life threatening situations in our day to day and hence to follow the rules set out for battalion in active combat situations is insane!
Team should be all about feeding of each others strengths. Each person is unique and has strong points that need to be leveraged. Active team work does not mean that you do things together, but its more about getting out others way so that they can be at their creative best! Humans are by design very creative beings and modern day teamwork ( i.e. do the task, make sure everyone else is doing the task and look happy while doing it! ) just kills this creativity. Instead of letting people be creative they are asked to be ‘part of a team’ i.e. follow the orders don’t think! For me being part of a team is to do your job to the best of your ability and ideally get great pleasure out of doing it. And this only happens when there is a since of achievement attached to it and when you do it based on your own vocation. This will not only mean that you will be contributing to the teams cause ( the task gets done! ) no one has to shout at any one, and everyone gets to do things the way it suits them. Don’t get me wrong I am not advocating that people do whatever they want ( this is where the role of leader is crucial, he is the big picture man, and although should allow people to be creative in their spheres of influence, but always makes sure that the ‘team’ is progressing with the task at hand ). To sum up the article, I think passive team work is much more beneficial to the individuals as it allows them to express themselves even though they are still part of the team and are doing their bit to get the task at hand done.
The chain of thoughts that originated from watching the kids play took its toll on the turkey in the oven L. We ended up eating a smoked turkey ( not by choice ) but it was lovely J. Bad day for teamwork for the team of my friend and I ( we were told about how bad we were over and over again throughout the evening by his wife and my date ). But hopefully, next time, I will be at my creative best and try and do my bit of cooking with a smile on my face, knowing that I have people around me who will still eat it at the end of the day J
Link to archives: http://www.triond.com/users/hbkhrushikesh
Disclaimer: The author avoided shouting at anyone ( including himself ) while writing this article. As usual all the characters and incidences mentioned are part of the authors imagination and any resemblance to any person living or dead ( or any turkeys! ) is pure co-incidence as there is no chance that that turkey dinner can ever be made that way again ( even by the team of my friend and I ).
No comments:
Post a Comment