Teamwork makes the dream work!

A team, as we call it, is a group of individuals working towards a common goal.

As Michel Jordan quotes: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships!!”

I read a book recently by Prakash Iyer in which he captured a beautiful narration regarding the Indian cricket team in 2008. The Indian team in the year 2008 was regarded as an all-star team with Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, etc. Anil Kumble was the captain of the team. The team was exceptional and was much talked about in the cricket world. But there was a problem: the cricketers were often late for practice, team meetings, and bus departures. Some members were not sticking to the agreed timings and were holding up or delaying the rest of the team. But the result was that the team was often late to reach the ground. Captain Kumble figured out that this wasn’t right, he tried explaining to everyone, but it yielded no results. He thought a lot and came up with an idea, a penalty scheme. Anyone who is late for the meetings, practice sessions, and net sessions will have to bear a fine of Rs. 10,000. It worked; players started reporting on time. But after a few weeks, he saw the same pattern: excuses like the elevator didn’t work, I wasn’t well, etc., so they could be exempted from paying the fine.

The Test series ended, and MS Dhoni became the captain of the limited-overs team. He changed the approach and said he would like to make a slight change in the plan. He said from now onwards, if any player were late, each team member would pay Rs. 10,000. It worked like magic. Every team member started helping the other members to be on time for all the sessions. This was a beautiful way of everyone to take responsibility for the collective outcome.

Working together and achieving the goal in our professional and personal lives is essential. There are different kinds of team members: there are stars, and there are average performers, but to reach the goal, we must work as a team. Successful people in the world have always believed in teamwork. It is essential to understand the fact that each member of the team comes with different capabilities. It is easier to achieve the targeted goal in a team because of members with diverse talents and skills.

As much as teamwork helps us accomplish tasks, it also has challenges. Thinking in the same direction, or as you term it-Groupthink is a tendency to accept the same thought process and ideas even if you have individual concerns. Thus, it is crucial to identify the right set of people. A successful team always comprises the right blend of minds working together.

Also, at times with the sheer nature of work or the need of the hour, people naturally get together and work together. A classic example is a way we faced the pandemic. The last two years were difficult for all of us. We all could sustain and face the challenges only because humanity worked as a team. The entire world worked as a team and worked together to fight the battle against the unseen virus. Scientists worked towards making vaccines,

doctors worked tirelessly to attend to patients, and police officers ensured people didn’t move out much. This period taught us a great life lesson: we can’t do anything in silos.

Thus, in the end, I would like to emphasize that teamwork is a powerful mechanism for getting brilliant results.

As Henry Ford rightly mentioned-

“If everyone is moving forward together, success takes care of itself.“