My Riffs

Teamwork accomplishes far more than a bunch of individuals can accomplish.  That’s not to diminish individual accomplishments. Individuals have changed and shaped the course of history.  But it takes teamwork to move mountains.

Someone has to be in charge. They won't always be right, and they won't always make the right decision, but someone has to be in charge. If you’re not in charge, support the one who is. The team will only do as good as its cohesiveness allows for.

If you're building a team, make sure the team isn't separated into silos. Silo'd teams/team members become problematic. One test of a good team is if the activities of the various members all contribute to the overall vision. If a member of the team is contributing but it doesn't contribute to the overall vision, it's not a well functioning team. Review the team members and ensure the activities are contributing towards the overall vision or goals. Otherwise the team is fragmented and not functioning properly.

Our differences often lead to exclusion. While exclusion is sometimes right, what if we took a different approach? What if we viewed differences as opportunities instead? Differences can be huge opportunities. Opportunities to grow differently, to think differently or to at least confirm what we're doing. If there's a difference, leverage it as an opportunity. Don't automatically view it as a threat. Viewing differences as a threat wastes an opportunity.

What a good team in place, there are times to take your hand off the wheel and let the team perform. They will come up with things impossible with a leaders hand on the wheel. There is obviously a time and a place for this, and it needs to be done at strategic times. But when it's time, something magical can happen. Happy New Years!

Every rule has an exception. But we cannot let the exceptions become the rule. This will skew the rule and not allow the rule to benefit the greatest amount of people possible. The rule will cater to the exceptions and alienate the ones the rule is to help.

Sometimes it’s only one small pebble that disrupts. Small things really matter. A pebble a fraction the size of what it’s disruptung can cause complete havoc. Dealing with the pebbles can often have much bigger reward than the size of the pebble would suggest. It’s important to not minimize the details and small things. They have big consequences both when attended to and when left alone.

Our natural tendency is to see how little we can do to accomplish a job. Or how little we can get away with to maintain something. But what if we started trying to understand what's the most we can do for it? Quality would most likely go way up. Move from least amount to most when doing a job. Not to the point of being inefficient, but how much value can you provide, how much quality can you contribute, etc. These are the questions to ask.

A completely cohesive team is likely a team absent of critical thinking. Some level of conflict should be allowed, and even thought of as normal and being a sign of a healthy team. Of course there has to be balance, too much conflict and there will never be enough cohesion to accomplish anything. Too much cohesion and there will lead to stagnation. Allow some conflict and see it as healthy. Beware of group think.

If we treated other people as if they are bearing the same burden as ourself, how would we treat them? Generally, we treat others as if they aren't dealing with anything and except much of them. But what if we gave them the grace that we give ourselves? We know what we are dealing with and understand the challenges it presents us. Extending those same considerations to someone else will allow them grace, just as we allow ourselves. Their burden should be considered as much as we consider our own, then we can understand one another. Or at least have compassion on each other.

The ideal team has a good mix of old and young. Of course it depends on the purpose of the team, but for many teams you want a good mix and range of diverse abilities in general. But for sure you want young and old on the team. Young provides the energy and drive. Older provides the guidance and wisdom. When you have a balance of this, the team is poised to succeed. Young people have the energy and ideas to bore out the tunnel, or to cut out the path. Older people have the wisdom and experience and can make sure the young don’t waste time. Synergy between generations is critical. When it doesn’t exist the creative and forward moving process is stalled.

Best solution: each side gives enough to meet in the middle. Bad solution: one side gives way more in order to reach the other side. Worst solution: neither side gives and the bridge isn't built. Best solution: requires compromise. Bad solution: requires dominance. Worst solution: requires pride.

Differences can make us stronger. There's magic to be had when you have a group of people operating in their diverse strengths. Finding people's strengths and allowing them to operate using them is key. Stifling people's strengths damages the unit as a whole. The wholes' strength is in the sum of each individuals parts. Let's celebrate our differences and not demand uniformity. Vision can unify a team made up of different parts. Unity doesn't equal uniformity. The strongest teams are made up of diverse teams united by a single vision.

So and so is a _______. This person always ________. This situation is because of _________. They're _________. You may be wrong about what you think, assume or even "know". We make judgments and apply labels with precious little information and background. This goes hand in hand with the post about shoes that don't fit . What if we stripped our labels from people? What if that person isn't _________. Maybe we can understand why they behave in the way they do. There is a reason for how they act, or for the reason you've applied that label. And the reason is likely different than what you think. People generally act the same in given situations. We just like to think things like "I would never do that" or "I wouldn't handle it like them". But the thing is we don't know. And furthermore we likely would handle things similar to them, we're all humans. Let's cut each other some slack. In fact let's get behi...

Or you can assemble a team of strong, qualified people who in synergy can accomplish things greater than the sum of their parts. The Lone Ranger can only accomplish so much. He is limited by his time and resources. But scaling becomes possible as his team expands. Create a team of qualified or skilled individuals and empower them to utilize their skills with minimal supervision. A well articulated vision unifies the team.