The dysfunctions of a heroic team

I love a good slogan, and one of my favorites is "There's no "I" in team!" What a bunch of baloney. My typical response is "You can't spell team without "me""! That always gets them.

Years ago I learned a very valuable lesson about teamwork. At the time I was a lowly sergeant in a National Guard training unit. We had primarily senior people in the unit due to the type of training we managed. Our commander, a lieutenant colonel from the Army, was the person who had the largest impact on my life trajectory. Many of the people I served with under his command have the same high regards for him.

He was full of appropriate, timely, and sound advice. It always came to us as little nuggets, and I have a folder full of them in my desk drawer. There was never a time I interacted with him where I walked away without having learned something. It was a great unit to be in, and it couldn't have come at a better time in my life.

One of the nuggets he tossed out there for us, is the concept of teamwork. He had a different twist. It was refreshing and different, yet it made so much sense once I grasped it.

It was so simple, yet so true. We are all sold on the heroic vision of teamwork. Everyone should do all they can to ensure a project is successful. Yet by doing this, we create an environment for failure. Roles become unclear, and work gets missed. Inordinate amounts of effort are exerted by the few, while the many wander around trying to figure out what to do next.

I was Infantry at the time, so this made sense. If our team is setting up a perimeter, we place our crew served weapons (the ones that are the loudest) to cover high speed avenues of approach. We then divide the perimeter into sectors of fire, where each person has a "lane" to cover. If one side of the perimeter is attacked, no one should be going to assist unless ordered to do so. Because if someone goes to assist, they are leaving their sector of fire open, unguarded, and vulnerable.

A few years ago, I was reminded of this lesson. I was working the foredeck of a 37 foot sailboat in a race. The spinnaker became fouled, and I was struggling frantically to fix it. I hadn't asked for help, and was surprised to find the person from the mast there to assist me. No assistance was needed, and once the spinnaker was ready to hoist, it couldn't be hoisted because the person working the mast was standing there. Offering me advice. Offering me assistance, and not ready to hoist the spinnaker. This wasn't teamwork.

I've carried this lesson with me, and often see organizations apply the heroic definition of teamwork. In doing so, they deprive people of learning. If a team member is struggling, it is in the best interest of the team to assist the struggling team member in learning their job better. This will ensure that the next time they are called on, they will be able to actually do their job. Doing a struggling team member's job perpetuates dysfunction.

What dysfunctional teamwork have you seen? Do you tend to help others by doing their by, or by helping them learn their job? Please use the comments below to share!


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Thanks Darry D., the lessons are still being synthesized and applied.