Business Lessons from the Athletic Field v.2
The Myth of Team, A Study in Building Excellence
There Is No “I” In Team, Next Man Up, and Team Before Self; there is no lack of adages when it comes to Team. All of these phrases are overused and many are misused as well. That is not to say that teamwork is not important or ignorance to the fact that ego and selfishness often interfere with the performance of great teams. The issue stems from a propensity of those who employ these phrases to use them to stifle individual excellence.
Many businesses suffer from a similar mentality which over emphasizes team to the detriment of individual growth. Whether the athletic field or the boardroom, there is much that can be learned from recognizing the flaws in these slogans— at least when they are taken too far. Let’s break them down one by one.
Myth #1 There Is No “I” In Team
Sorry, while literally accurate, it is metaphoric nonsense. A team is made of individuals, so there are plenty of I’s. If you capitalize TEAM, you might argue it has 13 I’s in it. That actually seems closer to the truth.
Great teams happened when skilled individuals build teamwork and cooperation into their otherwise strong set of personal and professional skills. This is further enhanced by plenty of practice which eventually leads to the development of chemistry.
Yes, a selfish or egotistical team member can corrupt the system. Yes, a group that has developed chemistry has a great advantage over one that hasn’t. But there is a reason the Dream Team crushed their way through the Olympics despite their limited time together. Great players make great teams.
Finally, if professional athletes and their difficult egos leave you a bit jaded, consider the United States Army. Be All You Can Be was the longest running and most successful Army recruiting slogan. Later slogans that would attempt to emphasize team over individual have been generally considered a failure. It seems that even this great institution temporarily succumbed to the myth of the team.
Myth #2 Next Man Up
No slogan is more popular in either the NFL or NBA today than Next Man Up. When a player in the first line goes down, they are replaced by a player from the second line. This is a brilliant slogan for emphasizing that all players and bow strings (the origin of second string) are inherently interchangeable. As long as someone else is available to fire the musket the team should be just fine.
The fact that this reference eludes to a time of inferior bow construction should trouble someone. The fact that it was later used by a military that discarded the bow as requiring too much skill (it was more accurate, faster, and had farther range than any musket) to arm the homeless, criminals, and runaways in a more manageable way — might too?
The phrase is not completely devoid of value. But why not — the next man steps up? Or something that recognizes the talent of the new individual? We will leverage new skill sets? Sadly, there is something to this easy replace-ability thing…
Myth #3 Team Before Self
If this article hasn’t convinced you, yet, it may be hopeless? But Team Before Self gives us one more example to draw on. While this slogan is one you may want everyone to embrace on a battlefield where personal sacrifice is a huge strength for any team, in a competition it reinforces all the wrong things.
Communism has never worked. The USSR, Cuba, and Venezuela have all proven that. But so have numerous experiments done by innovative academics around the globe. Every study of team grading systems compared to individual ones results in teams losing. When grades and work are shared — mediocrity ensues. Human behavior, cognitive processing, and feedback systems assure it.
When risk and reward are shared, people choose lower risk and lower reward every time. Ricky Waters may have been one of those problem egos that emphasizing team is supposed to combat, but his “For who? For what?” quote was unfiltered human nature. Ricky lacked team pride, but he wasn’t going to acquire it from a slogan.
The Recommendation
Great teams are built from great individuals who embrace teamwork, chemistry, and build team pride from a respect for the other individuals on the team. There are plenty of I’s in team. When the team needs you, the next talented individual will need to step up. And truly great players help build great teams.
So if you want to build a great team, emphasize individual excellence. But also acknowledge and reward sacrifice, camaraderie, and pride. Teams are built from great individuals who earn the respect of their teamates. Through practice, teamwork, and leveraging the strengths and individuality of others, great teams are built. There is nothing constructive in oppressive slogans and ego battering mantras.
What Can Business Learn From This?
How often does your organization reward individuals? How effective is that team bonus? Does your business have chemistry? Are the more talented employees more likely to leave? What are you doing to recognize individual excellence? Does your company help people to be all they can be or stifle talent with team first slogans?
No matter how many team slogans they adopt, the championship ranks of most major sports are dominated by teams with high profile players and big egos. And yes, sometimes teams full of big ego’s fall, but not because they turned their nose up at bad slogans, but because they didn’t recognize that individual excellence must also include teamwork or they failed to build respect. These are individual talents that make great teams.
One Final Note
Team sports are wonderful. They teach children how to cooperate. They provide them with the opportunity to learn how to respect others. But as a parent, if you are gung ho that a coach is going to drill team and discipline into your child, what exactly are you preparing them for?
