Interconnected Yet Unique: What Does Teamwork Mean?
We’ve all heard the common metaphors for teamwork.
‘A well-oiled machine’
‘Bees in a hive’
‘A highly-trained army’
These phrases give us the image of a homogeneous group, working with one mind and one purpose towards their common goal.
How often have you felt like just another one of those bees, gleefully buzzing away — and does this really sound like the best way to be perceived?
This isn’t quite the truth when it comes to teams within an organization. Each individual in a team is unique, and each contributes their own perspective to the vision of the organization. How can we all be bees in a hive when we are so colored by our own lives and experiences?
Separate yet Coexisting
I stumbled across the most unlikely yet insightful comparison to well-functioning, innovative team — an octopus. Octopuses are fascinating creatures; they have a total of nine brains! One central, donut-shaped brain is present in the octopus's body, while eight satellite brains are at the base of each of the arms. These satellite brains can act completely independently of the central brain. An octopus may even be completely unaware of the location of its arms until it comes within its line of sight.
A great team acts not as a hive but as an octopus, where each team member or arm is able to think independently and navigate their own environment, all while being guided by the central brain. Small decisions are taken independently by the arms, acting based on their instincts and inputs; larger ones are taken in collaboration. No matter what, every action is taken for the broader benefit of the octopus as a whole.
Diving Deep to Explore
The nine brains are not the only unique feature of octopuses. Each of their arms is longer than their bodies, able to reach into nooks and capture their food or understand textures in great detail. One can often see octopuses traversing the ocean floor, searching for food right at the bottom.
Let’s tie this back to an organization where individuals or teams are able to achieve greater depth and thought in their area of expertise. The more power given to the arms of the organization, the better they are able to traverse the ocean floor, finding nuggets of insights and information based on the in-depth information they are able to collect using their well-developed, neuron-laden arms.
An organization and team truly thrive when each member within it is treated not as a resource but as a valuable and integral body part of its own. A well-functioning ecosystem is able to identify the strengths of each arm of its octopus and allow it the required freedom to explore while still remaining one body with one shared vision as an organization.
