The Power of Teams

When I was about to graduate from college, one of the counselors at the university’s Career Resource Center told me something that seemed pretty dumb at the time. While being interviewed, I was also supposed to interview the company.  Silly me only worried about two things:

1. Will you pay me excessive amounts of money?
2. When can I expect to get raises?

Starting my latest job I asked a few questions about career paths but the question that was most important to me was, “Can I have lunch with you and the team sometime this week?”  I’d be lying if I said money isn’t important, but my real priorities have changed.  I wanted to be on a team that was strong and had success oozing from their pores.  In Breaking the Rules,  Kurt Wright describes a team full of “effortless high achievers” and that was what I was craving.

Effort-Filled Minimal Achieving Teams

Leaving college I had 2 internships with the top company in the healthcare IT arena and a year of management experience.  I was starting a job with one of the other big players in healthcare IT and was ready to take on the world.  The team showed up by 8:45, so I was there at 7:45.  Some started leaving at 5, so I left at 5:30.  Shorts and t-shirts were acceptable so I wore slacks and a dress shirt.  I was going to work as hard as I could and demonstrate that I was so much more than just another “code monkey”.  I did exactly what I planned to do and impressed a lot of people along the way.  I was well known and well liked.  On my last day I spent 3 hours saying “good bye” to all of my friends then walked out the door with a giant grin and skipped down the sidewalk like a little girl.  Why?  Teams.

As far as teams go, I was probably on the most positive, productive, and successful development team in the entire organization.  We got along, worked well together, and had a lot of fun.  But it still wasn’t enough for me.  The entire corporation had a negative attitude.  It didn’t matter if you were the best person for the job, politics mattered.  People were kept from their true potential because “that’s not how we do things here.”  Too many people were still living in the old ways and afraid to try new things.

My biggest pet peeve was the rampant negativity.  New ideas were quickly chastised for any sort of shortcoming.  There were numerous people who took it upon themselves to let you know of all sorts of flaws in your plan.  They were doing you a favor so you didn’t shoot yourself in the foot.  What they didn’t realize is how many projects never got started because of this.  If you’re trying something new and trying to figure it out as you go, it’s really hard to argue how you can handle some edge case.  Once you get there you could figure it out, but it’s already too late and your project is dead.  You didn’t know everything about anything before you started.

Without continuing, I can sum my feelings up by saying that although I was on an awesome team, the negativity, red tape, reluctance to change, and fear of new things from all those around us squashed our true potential.

The Lunch of Learning

The lunch with my soon-to-be coworkers was all about learning the personalities of the team-members and the team itself.  Right away I could tell the team was pretty successful.  There was no worry about recessions or job loss.  The team was growing, they had the best computers money could buy, and they were accomplishing more than anyone would expect.  Then I realized something really cool when I started to look at individual personalities.  Everyone was confident and happy and there wasn’t an ego in the group.  Although there was the top dog, everyone had the same amount of input.  Suggestions were openly given and received but no one really had to tell anyone what to do.  They would work on the area in which they were most proficient and took pride in the results.  They were looking forward to switching to new technologies and didn’t see all the “what if’s” as a problem.  They knew they could solve any problem and were never cautious about taking a first step.  I knew this was a team I had to join.

My first day I made changes to the product.  My team trusted that I would do a good job so no one had to spend a day just to review my work (imagine that!).  Two days later customers started to see my changes.

For 2 years I was beat down and forced to ask permission for every change.  If I found a problem I had to report it, and wait to find out if or when I could fix it.  Now if I’m working on something, I don’t let it go until I think it is right.  I can fix 6 other things that are only slightly related to my task.  No one has to know and they certainly wouldn’t mind.  I don’t have to wait for the committee that assembles Thursday afternoons to deem what is worthy of being fixed.  We’re striving for perfection and any problem is a problem that should disappear.  If I take the initiative then more power to me.  The strangest part is that I still don’t feel like I’m fully back to the real me, I still find myself compelled to ask, “Is it ok if I fix this too?”  It’s sad to think that for 2 years I was regularly told “no, it’s not ok.”  When one of the team members starts to get frustrated or down, the others will put their energy into bringing that person back up.  It’s almost like being on a sports team.  Maybe it’s supposed to be that way and that’s why they’re called “teams” in the first place?

In the end, this team produces something much much greater than anything we could come up with on our own.  Results seem to come together a lot faster and it all feels effortless because we trust:

1. Everyone else will do their best.
2. Everyone else’s results will end up being better than if I tried to do it in addition to my other tasks.

The Experience

If you’re on a team that just doesn’t seem to be full of effortless high achievers, pick up Wright’s book to see if you can mold your team into something great.  Even if you’re not a manager, his book can really help you change the personality of a team.  If your team is full of nay-sayers and can’t-doers, then its time to find a new team.

It is really hard to convey how it feels to be on a successful team, but it feels magical.  Each night I look forward to waking up so I can spend another day with my teammates.  Being on a team that helps you accomplish more than you ever thought possible will get you one step closer to infinite happiness.