Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.
– Ryunosuke Satoro
In 1958, the United Nations issued their
Convention on the High Seas to codify the rules
of international law relating to “all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State.” In reviewing its 37 Articles, it struck me that building and managing high performance teams have a lot in common with the dangerous High Seas. To wit:
- Teams often move slower than a ‘message in a bottle’ in search of a distant shore.
- The good work of team members can all-too-easily be ‘pirated’ by a select few.
- The language of frustrated team members can all-too-easily get quite ‘salty’ at times.
- Both deep waters and dysfunctional teams have ‘untold depths’.
- Many good people have ‘drowned’ in a poorly run team meetings.
When the Good Ship Teamwork can so easily start ‘sinking’ like that, one can’t help but ask why even bother? The answer, of course, is the promise and expectation of synergy that teamwork can bring—where 1 + 1 > 2; where teams really CAN, and often DO, accomplish more (or better or faster or cheaper) than the same number of individuals can…individually. So what causes so many teams to ‘crash into the rocks’ before achieving their assigned goals and objectives?
Navigating the High Seas of Team Meetings
Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky.
– Sonia Gandhi
“It’s not that successful teams are necessarily any smarter than unsuccessful teams,” says Edward de Bono, author of Six Thinking Hats. Rather, in successful teams, “the intelligence, experience, and knowledge of all members of the group are fully used. Everyone is looking and working in the same direction.”
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