Plays Well With Others

When you were in elementary school I bet you received a report card with a section that indicated how well you played with the other kids in your class.  Strangely enough, schools have been promoting collaboration in this way for decades, even though it has become a sort of joke.

Yet, for reasons that are unclear, as we moved into high school, college and into the workplace, the ratings stopped and no one placed much importance them.   It seems that independence and doing things in your own way became more important than how well you “played” with your fellow workers.

Most organizations that I am familiar with place individual accomplishment way above teamwork, although they may espouse teamwork publically. In every team I was ever part of, someone was vying with someone else for recognition, credit or even the rights to an accomplishment. Teams were competitive environments where political savvy and first mover advantage were prized.

Not surprisingly, most people in the corporate world have little use for teamwork, which is often synonymous with wasting time or for helping someone else get credit for what many others actually did. There is little willingness to give up titles and position power to achieve goals.  There is also a belief that competition between individuals is healthy and leads to innovation and other improvements.  Teams, people often believe, lead to group think and stall progress.

Some corporations are now offering classes in collaboration and slowly the focus is on how to create synergy between departments and people.  Gen Y – those in their twenties – have grown up in a collaborative, group-oriented world. School activities are centered on team sports and group projects. Very little individual work is required. It is likely that these people will continue to work in project and group focused ways throughout their careers.

And that will change the nature of the workplace significantly. It also leaves the question of whether playing well with others will lead to more innovation or productivity than the world we live in today.  IDEO, the design company, has made group work its hallmark.  People at IDEO assume various roles, work in cross-disciplinary teams and have created a host of new products for their clients.  So for them success clearly lies in hiring people who work well together.

A recent book entitled Collaboration by Morten Hansen of U.C. Berkeley shows how more firms are generating better products by leveraging the power of teams and by focusing on ways to encourage and reward people for collaborating, sharing and learning from each other.

So it may be that the scorned and mostly forgotten report card rating about how well you play with others will become the best indicator of future success.

Tagged as: collaboration, creativity, teamwork