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Together Everyone Achieves More

Michael Vinegar
RPW Capstone

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With workplaces quickly becoming more and more diverse these days,
dealing with diversity is now a major work initiative in professional workplaces with
concerns of establishing and sustaining peak performance over an extended period
of time. In fact, few dispute the notion that US firms are undergoing historically
significant patterns of change that promise to redefine the nature of managerial
authority and the structure of organizational control, (Vallas). When considering
teamwork and the intent to partake in groups on a professional level, its important
to connect with traditional, more established models of collaboration within group
dynamics, for they serve as building blocks and garrisons that have been proven to
stimulate organizational productivity. But in light of growing diversity, we are
obligated to widen our perspectives and consider alternative approaches to
teamwork. Organization theorists commonly argue that centralized, bureaucratic
organizational structures are increasingly giving way to more flexible and
participative arrangements that are better suited to contemporary economic
solutions, (Vallas). This empowering of the workforce, I believe, is best seen in
sports, and more specifically, in the triangle offense of Phil Jackson. This strategy of
teamwork is a model of lean production, which places a strong emphasis on
quantitative analysis and rational calculations. Here are its three main principles:
1. The elimination of the unproductive bureaucratic hierarchies
previously used to oversee production workers and to maintain
quality control. (Trust)
2. Advocates redistributing the latter tasks to front-line employees
themselves. (Empowerment)
3. It stresses the need for the continuous improvement of the
firm's operations (practice makes perfect) with production

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workers expected to place their knowledge at the disposal of the
firm. (Communication)
Although the corporate world relies on teamwork, it often does so
without a solid grasp of what makes a team workoften missing the deeper
secrets of how effective teams or groups reach the state of peak
performance, (Bolman). Point blank, we need to be ready to renovate our
traditional ideas whenever necessary and develop innovative, new and
creative strategies. We must learn to take advantage of the full spectrum of
potential in the vast and diverse upcoming workforce with convicted zest and
encourage them to get involved. For teamwork occurs when diverse abilities
come together with insight toward a common goal. Therefore, we must take
value in each other and the differences of our individual cultures and
characteristics with a clear recognition. It is absolutely possible for us to
develop versatile playbooks guided by sound fundamentals. Strategies that
spotlight individual strengths in harmony as a whole. Lets be real, besides
the apparent growing diversity in the professional world, circumstances in
general are subject to change at any time, and our strategies in relation to
teamwork should be limber enough to always calibrate, on the spot, in
coordination and in flux with each individual situation at hand. We all are
shades of the same big picture. On a grand scale, we the people are, indeed,
one body, and we operate together every day whether we take notice of this
unison or not! The awareness, though, is vital to reaching peak performance
levels.

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We dont realize how much we depend on one another in everyday life.
For instance, there are a multitude of kids in America that go to school every
day. They are the collection of all the families in America. These kids spend
more time in a day with their teachers than they do with their parents. In this
sense teachers are a big part of the super team of humanity, taking
observance over our youth. We rarely salute how much teachers really mean
to society today or recognize the value in their work. This ambiguity is
prevalent in American social order. We tie lofty dollar amounts to highly
valued entities. Doctors are of the highest paid careers in all of humanity
because they save lives. Sadly, the average teacher is topping out at a little
less than $50,000 per year, and they help build lives. Thats pretty steep in
regards to how much we truly need them in society to keep the economic
machine running at all. These instructors instill honor and respect in our
children and from K-12 teach them valuable skills to be used throughout life.
All the while were at work making money to pay for and pave the way for
those same lives. But, if teachers were to strike, the world would definitely
feel the pain. To hone in on this idea, imagine with me if you will, that all the
teachers in America, all of them, didnt show up for work next Monday. That
would be catastrophic, right? Now lets take it up a notch. Not just a day, but
for a whole week. For one whole week, America has no teachers. Not an
instructor, professor or teachers aide in sight! No notices, no calls, just no
shows across the board of every organized instructional facility. No
messages, no notes, no requested off slips; they all just cashed in two weeks
worth of PTO and jetted to Hawaii for a secret vacation without a trail. The
world would be thrown into an absolute state of chaos and frenzy that week
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after we realized they were gone. Just think of all of the call offs and
cancelled appointments and missed flights and late deliveries and traffic jams
and delayed busses when everyone realized the teachers didnt show up to
babysit. I mean, they, teachers, only allow for the progression of any
business day in society. I mean, why else have summer camps? So that
there will be somewhere for them kids to go when they get out of school in
June! They allow the world to work. Can someone say, sacrifice?
Teamwork works the same way on all levels. When parts of a team are
undervalued, not recognized and ignored, they produce less, are less efficient
and the team suffers. They lose the motivation necessary to bear the cross
in a sense for the team. But when we celebrate the benefits of the individual
parts, those components become synergized and collaborate effectively in
group operations. So, to be a great team and not just exist as a mere group,
humanity must recognize the impact of our universal teammates, each other,
for in the wise words of Norman Shidle, a group only becomes a team when
each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the
skills of the others, (Member Quotes.com).
In the professional world, we sometimes dont understand how
valuable we are to one another nor how much we rely on each other to show
up every day in all aspects of life. We all matter to each other on a daily
basis, we just dont pay it any attention. Its almost as if we believe that we
can either be individuals or groups, but not both at the same time. This
misconception blinds us from actualizing the value in contrast of our abilities

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and prevents us from cradling the omnipresent, galactic, interwoven
connectedness between us. It has a lot to do with how we view others.
Teamwork occurs when diverse abilities and insights join together and
work toward a common goal. Team members from different cultures are
quite likely to have different normative ways to make decisions, manage
conflict, and even what constitutes a work day. Culture, after all, is a
functional solution to problems of social interaction, and not all cultural
solutions to the same problem of social interaction are identical, so
versatility is a necessity in todays age (Crotty). The diversity of teamwork is
a natural phenomenon ingrained instinctively within all of nature, including
our very own DNA. From the solar system, to the human body, to company
organizations in the professional world, they are all made up of a unison of
individual and diverse components, all different and unique, working
together. It is diversity that makes America and the world as a whole what it
is today, but this state of being creates new challenges in the workplace
every day. Globalization of marketplaces, information availability in terms of
speed and volume, and increased competitiveness have changed the way
organizations function and respond in business (Dionne).
America has been struggling with diversity ever since the first
Thanksgiving; its not some new workplace issue. Its a demon in the closet
of society that needs to be exercised. Weve certainly showed a level of
maturation in our handling of diversity issues over the years though. For
instance, shortly after closing the border with the Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882, America turned over a new leaf and opened the floodgates at Ellis
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Island for a mass scale immigration for the next forty years, well on into the
1920s, welcoming the entire world to come and help build America as their
new home. With so many cultures from around the world converging all in
one spot, it is obvious why America was nicknamed, the Melting Pot: a
place where cultures blend. One would think that since American history
began with such waves of immigration and varying cultures that wed have a
strong handle on diversity issues here in the US of A. So what is missing, and
why is diversity such an issue in our workplaces?
Lets consider attitude, which is a personal issue that affects
teamwork. America is a multitude of culture contrary to the assimilation
engine it was once thought to be. Cultures have intermingled, but they stand
out. Some people continue to hold fast to attitudes of hate and
discrimination towards other cultures and the differences they present due to
cognitive maps, or frames from past experience (Bolman). Negative framing
affects the integration of efficient teamwork. It took the government to
declare that displays of racist attitudes stemming from negative framing were
illegal. American productivity and teamwork turned in a new direction when
US politicians passed the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965
Executive Order calling for affirmative action outlawing displays of racist
attitudes in the workplace (Kochan). These laws stressed the importance of
working together across racial differences. Uncle Sam was telling us to, Play
nice in spite of the fact that some people may not have wanted to work with
each other, for the sake of the American team and the American Dream.
Those laws supposedly buried and ended racism, but changing attitude is no
legal matter.
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The racial quotas imposed with the laws provided predetermined
amounts required by the government to track the hiring and promoting of
members of any particular racial group within company organizations. For
decades American business operated within the corralled identity of a
concocted group that is, one planned and mushed together into the same
bag by some authority, perhaps with good intentions in mind. Negative
connotations did not disappear so fast even with Uncle Sam deliberating
justice with a watchful eye. These legalities may have even perpetuated the
negativity within corporations: Affirmative action may sometimes fail...If
employers continue to hold onto negative views about a group of workersin
complying with the affirmative-action mandate by lowering standards used
for assigning these workers to the better jobs within the firm. Lowering the
standard may reduce investment incentives because the favored workers see
themselves as likely to succeed without acquiring the relevant skills, skating
through promotion after promotion scot-free. Thus, employers' negative
stereotypes can continue to be confirmed in the equilibrium under affirmative
action if they patronize the disadvantaged group that is, if, believing a
group to be less productive, they respond to the equal-representation
constraint by making it easier for the less skilled workers in this group to
succeed, (Coate). By all means, teamwork is not an operation that should
be forced upon individuals, literally grinding unfitting parts into dusty
cohesion. The great Too Short once said, Get in where you fit in! In
promotion of developing more positive organizational cultures that would
support the effective development of a more diverse workforce, many
companies and consulting firms began to offer training programs aimed at
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valuing diversity. These efforts focused on changing employees attitudes
and eliminating behaviors that reflected more subtle forms of discrimination
and exclusion, which often inhibited effective interactions among people,
and thus, kept America from operating at peak levels (Kochan).
Negative connotations are still prevalent in America after all these
years. Just turn on the news if you think otherwise; one of our presidential
candidates is calling for a nationwide ban of Muslims and a border fence to
keep people from crossing the borders neighboring Mexico, and he is leading
in the primaries! Wake up call America. If we intend on producing productive
teams in our diverse workforce, we have to drop our preconceived negative
misconceptions now or we will make the situation worse for ourselves. We
must identify with Dr. King when he proclaimed, I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character, (Coate)
This teamwork thing is tricky business. Theres a lot involved. Like
gym class it cant be accomplished partially. You either pass or you fail, all or
none, in or out. If one part of the collaboration falls out of sync, the entire
team suffers in the end. Say Rob forgot his part of the sales presentation, the
entire company loses a new client, not just Rob. And if Rob kills his segment
of the presentation in junction with the other components of the sales pitch,
the entire company is richer. The whole kit and caboodle of teamwork is a
catch-22, a double-edged sword, a ying and a yang. One might wonder why
people join teams when destruction will fall on everyone when individuals fail
to act in their assigned positions. Why leave yourself so vulnerable? Well,
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here are a few reasons workers willfully join teams in the professional
workforce. According to Barton H. Hamilton, low-ability workers could
expect that teaming up with higher-ability workers would raise their pay.
Also, teamwork may call on additional worker abilities that expand production
possibilities, thereby increasing surplus and incentives for cooperation. And,
teamwork may offer compensating differentials due to the nonpecuniary
benefits of less boring work, more social interaction, and income smoothing,
(Hamilton). Basically, more pay, better results, and we get to have fun with
each other while were doing it! The risks involved with this process can be
challenging, but the rewards are well worth it.
Take me personally, and this assignment. I was in a group, but we had
communication issues. Regardless of what they were, I now, had to trudge
through the triangle of the effective writing process alone. Research,
writing and editing of this huge report happened on a solo tip. Had I been in
a group, my workload wouldve been lighter, the result of our work would
have been better-rounded, and I wouldve had someone to rely on and
socialize with. After this experience, I truly value the process of becoming a
great teammate and understand that my perspective can and will delay or
propel any team I am a part of. Im not alone in these beliefs either. In a
study to research the collaborative writing practices of students in the Air
Force Institute of Technologys Graduate School of Logistics and Acquisition
Management, when asked to compare productivity when writing as a team to
productivity when writing alone, about 54% percent of the respondents found
team writing more effective, but productivity was dependent on compatible
writing skills, ability to generate ideas, ability to plan successfully, and ability
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to resolve conflicts. Those who favored a team approach often cited the fresh
flow of ideas produced by combined perspectives, individual compensatory
strengths such as complementary writing ability, and constructive conflict as
main reasons for greater productivity, (Price). The story of my teams
dispersion surfaced plainly and simply in the findings of this research study.
On the negative side, some students had trouble resolving conflicts, dividing
the work, and managing time. In fact, some students said that most of the
conflict they experienced was produced either by dissimilar interests and
motivation or by interpersonal disagreements, (Price). These results were
nearly identical to the findings of another study, one by Ede and Lunsford,
surveying over 700 professionals from seven different professions and
reporting that 58% of them considered collaborative writing productive
(Noel). The advantages and disadvantages followed suit as well. Boom goes
the dynamite.
Also, I look forward to entrepreneurial ventures in group dynamics.
Good thing is, this happened before I set out with the wind in my hair, alone,
to face the world in business. This is the typical idea of entrepreneurship that
is fueled in the USA, a place whose values encourage and promote personal
and singular achievementby way of stories of the meteoric careers of
individuals such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and others
(Cooney). From my own experience in drafting this report and other solo
ventures, I have found this concept of the entrepreneur to be over-rated, and
I know that a good team makes any process much easier once cohesion is
attained. But that takes an effort from all parties involved, on an individual
level as well as a group. Theres an old Chinese saying that examines the
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benefits of having more than one founder for the creation and successful
development of an enterprise. It reads, It is difficult to clap with one hand,
(Cooney). Can I get an applause for teamwork?
All for one and one for all! Thats the attitude of a great team and it
does come by choice, but it is also, quite frankly, a necessity. For just like our
society would literally crumble without a teaching staff, one missing link in
the chain and the fastened pendant of group effort is lost. People have the
right to choose attitudes, inside or outside of the confines of a team, and
each of their individual decisions consolidate to propel a team to success or
crippling defeat. This is the American way: democracy. We are not machines,
or communists, and our ability to reason alongside willpower opens the door
to infinite chance, thus requiring a versatile approach to realizing synergy. In
1909, Lester Frank Ward defined synergy as the universal constructive
principle of nature, saying, I have characterized the social struggle as
centrifugal and social solidarity as centripetal. Either alone is productive of
evil consequences. Struggle is essentially destructive of the social order,
while communism removes individual initiative. The one leads to disorder,
the other to degeneracy. What is not seenthe truth that has no expounders
is that the wholesome, constructive movement consists in the properly
ordered combination and interaction of both these principles. This is social
synergy, which is a form of cosmic synergy, the universal constructive
principle of nature, (Ward).
We can change our minds or simply lose focus and either way the team
as a whole will feel the repercussions automatically. If one person on any
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team checks out on the teams mission, then the old saying is proven true
that one bad apple can indeed spoil a whole bunch.
Toxic teammates pop up on teams everywhere. We can see this
happen clearly in professional sports. If you dont believe me, just look up
Terrell Owens career. They called him T.O., an obvious abbreviation, but
critics joked that this nickname really meant Team Obliterator. Regardless
of the fact that T.O. was a stunning and highly skilled receiver, his attitude
towards his team in multiple instances diminished comradery and led to
failures in performance.
Attitude is a personal choice, so we must all check the man in the
mirror, ourselves, first. We must recognize the need to change now, ahead
of time, and plan to adapt accordingly. We must understand that differences
dont have to be hindrances as we identify our own personal prejudices and
shallow perceptions of the unknown and diffuse them, taking on a more open
minded and open hearted development of versatility that celebrates
individuality. Individuals do make up the whole, but yield to it. We can see
this principle visualized in a cartoon from the 80s called Voltron. The main
characters, five fighter pilots, kept peace in their world. Individually they
could each handle certain battles with random enemies that came to disturb
the peace, but every episode ended in a major confrontation with a boss
enemy. This last fight required a high level of synergy and could not be won
singlehandedly. This is when they would desist their individualities and
transform into something othersomething greater! This gargantuan might
that they converted into was the unstoppable force known as Voltron. Two
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formed the feet and legs, two made up the arms and body, and the fifth
would form the head of this monstrosity. As we can see, teams are made up
of people who are actively collaborating their efforts in support of one
another to reach a common goal as one. Thats what a team is, and once we
grasp this idea internally as individuals, we can look to triangulate the inner
workings of successful teamwork so that we can have a more successful
group dynamic verity in the professional world. Now is the time for us to
dissect our past traditional schemes and get innovative, and later on as well,
for it is an ongoing fluctuation of awareness.
Versatile approaches towards professional teamwork is key to great
group dynamic. So lets talk about what makes a great team. What
distinctive trait or bag of tricks separates, per say, a group of people walking
down the street in the same direction, or riding the same bus, or driving on
the same highway, from high school seniors on a college tour, or the
mathematic honors team attempting to crack The Riemann Hypothesis 1, or
the family convoy in route to Maryland for vacation? Just because people are
walking down the same street doesnt mean they plan on going to
McDonalds, and just because a group of people are on the same bus doesnt
mean that they all have the same destination in mind, and just because we
are both going south on 75 does not mean we travel together. But on the
contrary, the high school seniors did all come to learn more about this
1 The 8th problem of the famous Hilbert's Problems are a list of twentythree problems in mathematics published by German mathematician David
Hilbert in 1900. The problems were all unsolved at the time, and several of
them were very influential for 20th century mathematics.
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particular college together as a unit, and the mathematics team is working
together to find the solution as a unit, and yes, the small family from Ohio did
set out with plans together to reach Maryland at the same time as one unit.
When the intentions of a group of individuals parlay and point in the same
direction we recognize, a distinction is made. This phenomena is called
entitativity. Entitativity is the essence that separates a meaningless
accumulation of random likeness from the chosen puissance of a team. It is
the extent to which an assemblage of individuals is perceived to be a group
rather than merely just an aggregation of independent, unrelated individuals;
its the quality of being an entity (Forsyth 16).
Teams share a common fate, they have similar goals and they operate
within close proximity of each other as a unit. They do something now,
together, to share benefits, of something, later because they want to or have
to, as on a sports team or a job, respectively. You know, a group of people
who put in work and tough it out in blood, in sweat and in tears, cutting
through all opposition to accomplish their goals. Thats a team.
I dont know about you, but Im a sports fan, and through sports
teamwork is the only exhibition at hand, for the question of competition is:
which group of athletes can synergize effort as one most effectively? Who
scored more points and how?
The first team that comes to mind for me is the Chicago Bulls of 199697 in the NBA. The dominance of the 96 Bulls not only led to a championship
title that year, it also drove the squad to set a historic regular season record
of 72 wins & 10 losses. We cant argue with numbers, right? If you saw them
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play, youd see just how fluid these guys operated. They were really efficient.
How did their team gel so smoothly? How did they operate nearly to
perfection?
Sure, they had the best player of all-time who sits atop the NBAs
official list of the 50 Greatest Players in the number 1 spot, Michael Jordan,
but this team was one of the best teams to ever play in the league, and it had
everything to do with how they embraced diversity and realized the benefits
of it on the court within the triangle offense. It boils down to this, in general,
when it comes to teams, that many times, your team can get away with an
unbalanced offensive scheme, but against that big foethe one who just
happens to have a very balanced defensive plan, your team will need to learn
to trust one another to do their jobs and be ready to adjust on a whim. We
can learn from the 96 Bulls in furthering our development of a championship
mentality for our teams and groups professionally in the workplace. One
missing trait in teamwork today in the professional world is comradery: a
sense of belonging and wanting to belong. I hear people gripe and complain
about being at work as soon as they punch the clock at my job. It really hurts
morale when there are open expressions from individuals within an intended
cohesive unit that are negative. We touched base on that earlier.
The Bulls had positively some of the greatest on-court cohesion in
history. Team cohesiveness is the strength of the bonds linking individuals
to a group, feelings of chemistry with specific group members and the group
itself, the unity of a group, and the degree to which the group members
coordinate their efforts to achieve goals (Forsyth 14). That coordination part
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is usually the hardest to sustain, especially in the midst of individual negative
perspectives. Being on a team is the mental equivalent to a 3-legged race,
but the legs of any team reflects the summation of those on the team, so it
can get complicated. It takes coordination, communication, compassion,
charisma, and versatility. Teams require a keen and almost sixth sense
among the members to communicate action almost instantaneously. They
know each other well. They are connected one to another and these
connections stand as strong emotional bonds, like the links between
members of a family or a clique of close friends. Great teams develop a deep
trust with one another, imbedded in the shared knowledge of each
individuals abilities and responsibilities. They don't sit around making safe,
inoffensive remarks out of fear. Sometimes things can get really heated up,
but no one exits these kitchens. Great teams have strong, tough teammates
that endure blistering challenges to coincide and gravitate toward mutual
respect when the smoke clears.
Theres a legendary story about how intense Michael Jordan was in
practice. To be exact, he punched his teammate Steve Kerr in the face.
It was one of the best things that ever happened for me, I needed to
stand up and go back at him, I think I earned some respect. But we have a
great relationship ever since you gotta prove it and then once you prove it,
youre fine, said Kerr regarding the altercation. Great teams argue, they
debate, they say things openly and honestly; they tell it like it is. They dont
care that you are white, black, Indian, a woman, LGBTQ or a midget, and
through it all, great teams come to function as a unit. Music reverberates as
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the symphony of effort clashes mid-air, fine-tuned within the groups
relationship interactions.
The Bulls had a multifaceted team composition, and despite the
diversity issues stemming from media tension and in-game altercations that
involved controversial figure, Dennis Rodman, and all of the well-known
shenanigans he brought along, the Bulls also were juggling a cultural
disparity in the development of Croatian player Tony Kukoc. The Bulls
seemingly perfected the principle of synergy through establishing
interactionism. This principle assumes that the behavior of people in groups
is determined by the interaction of the person and the environment (Forsyth
21). This team knew what to do and when to do it and who should be doing
what most of, if not all the time, regardless of the situation. They learned to
count on and rely on each other. They knew what each person could and
should be doing.
In the professional world, contrarily and oftentimes, we have no
outside information or relationship with our teammates, and thus,
communication suffers. Communication is a huge part of teamwork. In itself,
effective communication can be a mystery, and when we add in the
paramount levels of diversity today, it can really become a juggling act.
According to Robert E. Lefton, there are eight common barriers to
communication in the professional world that keep teams from synergizing.
With these pitfalls in mind, professionals can synergize and establish
teamwork in all career avenues into the future. Here is a listing of the 8

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common barriers to communication according to Robert E. Lefton, PhD, the
President of Psychological Associates, Inc. in St. Louis, MO.
1. A breakdown in probing. The assumption is that people
naturally know how to ask questions and dig for information.
Strangely, however, only about 10% of managers consistently
use the five probes identified by communication experts that are
essential for getting to the bottom line. No team is likely to
synergize if it doesn't get to the core of the issue. Complete and
accurate information is indispensable for credible problem
solving. Since complete and accurate information is rarely
presented spontaneously, teams can be found to wander, and
sometimes never even determine what the goal of the group
even is, let alone accomplish it (Lefton). If we are not asking the
right questions, of course, the right answers will inevitably
escape us. That is, except by some astronomical coincidence,
and those anomalies are unsafe to depend on.
2. Promotional Leadership. A promotional leader leaks his or her
own ideas to subordinates before they've had a chance to state
theirs, and unintentionally stifles synergistic conversations
concerning future operations and goals (Lefton). Most workers
lack the balls to tell their boss when he or she is blowing smoke
in the wrong direction. It is more conducive to synergy to allow
subordinates to express creative ideas prior to the boss
revealing their views, since of course, the boss has the final say
anyhow.
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3. Intra-team conflict. Once the members of a team start pushing
their own separate goals or agendas, de-synergism is sure to
result. As soon as private agendas displace the team's goal,
candor disappears, probing becomes a way to put other people
on the defensive, debate becomes dissension, teamwork
disappears and one-upmanship takes its place (Lefton). Dont
be a team obliterator. If you are on a team, be on the team.
In order to swim, one must jump into the pool.
4. Insufficient alternatives. Teams usually explore only a few of
their choices because they don't take the time to prepare and
they're not ready to list all the options. And many teams feel
uncomfortable with brainstorming although it's essential to
generating options. What's more, the team that takes action
instead of talking may end up wishing it hadn't moved so
quickly. Taking action is fine, but it's usually best to do so after
deliberation (Lefton). Talk, argue, debate and vote when
necessary so as to be in unison with the group on all decisions
and to unveil hidden explications.
5. Lack of candor. On a team, that means everyone must level
with each other openly share all they know about the subject at
hand without distortion or evasion. Candor means full and
accurate disclosure, and that requires trust. One problem is that
people have personal reasons for not being open and honest. A
second problem is intra-team politics. Employees may hold back
or distort information because it seems like the expedient thing
to do. Fear can make most people particularly evasive. It may
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be safe to remain quiet, but it won't be synergistic (Lefton).
Fights are good ways to incite insights.
6. Pointless meetings. A startling number of meetings either have
no objective at all or such a vague goal that nobody's sure what
it is. The solutions are simple: eliminate unnecessary meetings,
and do a thorough job of planning the necessary ones (Lefton).
Value the time of the team and avoid unnecessary obligations of
teammates.
7. Lack of self-critique. Most teams fail to do regular, systematic
critiques of themselves: their operations, strengths, weaknesses
and areas needing improvement. These teams take teamwork
for granted. Time must be set aside and a format developed so
the team learns from and profits from every meeting (Lefton).
As a group and on an individual level, teams must be tough on
themselves and strive to improve. Be your own critic.
8. Failure to cycle downward. This is crucial. Many a good decision
has died because the team failed to cycle it downward -explain it
to all the people whose collaboration will be needed to make it
succeed. As explained in Obstacles to Change in the
Workplace, Vallas explains this as workplace anomie. He says
that, Though U.S. Paper's executives had made a commitment
to reconfigure the firm's internal operations, the precise
contours of their efforts in some ways remained highly
ambiguous. Most notably, their obvious commitment to the ideal
of continuous improvement coexisted uneasily with their support
for worker self-direction, without ever specifying precisely how
these elements would combine in actuality. This situation
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illustrates how managers sometimes scratch their heads and
say, "l don't know what went wrong, (Lefton). With proper
communication, the entire plan is understood clearly among all
participants involved. Never assume something is known that
has not been so acknowledged.
Leadership is also important when we analyze teamwork. Sometimes
leaders are not great at leading, as described above in Leftons article on
communication, but when leadership reaches transformational levels,
teamwork shines as if saturated in three coats of Turtle Wax. According to
Shelly Dionne, transformational leadership can be broken down in three
parts:

idealized influence/inspirational motivation

intellectual stimulation, and
individualized consideration

Transformational leadership may be mapped to critical teamwork

process factors in such a way as to possibly develop team communication
and conflict management skills, and promote team cohesion, (Dionne). Phil
Jackson, aka the Zen Master, was the transformational leader to in the NBA
from the early 90s, and well into the 2000s. He received most of the credit
for the development of such a synergistic environment, being the head coach
in Chicago, but even he was a bit off in terms of traditional approaches
toward developing teamwork and coaching in general.

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Phil transformed Tex Winter's triangle offense2 with innovative and
creative strategies for the developing culture and came with his own holistic
approach to coaching based on Eastern philosophy and Native American
spiritual practices.3 Nobody, could figure out how to use the triangle offense
like Phil. In fact, he became known as one of the greatest coaches ever for
bringing this diverse group of guys into unison, propelling them forward as
one, together, and for winning more than any other coach in the history of
the NBA (overall .717 winning percentage). Somehow Phil had found a way
to draw out and utilize the full potential of his diverse players. Utilizing the
triangle offense, the Chicago Bulls won 3 championship titles in a row, two
times in history! From 91-93, and again from 96-98, raking in 6
championship titles in eight years. It is clear that with the right scheme any
team or group of individuals synergizing their efforts collaboratively can
become a mean machine indeed.
2 Triangle offense - The system's most important feature is the sideline
triangle created by the center, who stands at the low post, the forward at
the wing, and the guard at the corner. The team's other guard stands at the
top of the key and the weak-side forward is on the weak-side high post
together forming the "two-man game." The goal of the offense is to fill those
five spots, which creates good spacing between players and allows each one
to pass to four teammates. Every pass and cut has a purpose and everything
is dictated by the defense.

3 Phil Jackson Biography. http://www.biography.com/people/phil-jackson224897

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Jackson was hired to coach the Los Angeles Lakers following his last
championship in Chicago. Again, with implementation of the triangle offense,
Jackson coached them to 3 straight titles. That means that in 11 seasons,
Phil led his team to the top 9 times. Thats 9 out of 11. Some coaches never
even reach the NBA Finals, let alone win it all in succession like this. But, as
in all things, change came with the passing of time, and again, there was a
new reality in game flow, as in business.
Now, fast forward to 2014.

New York was looking to revitalize their

team culture with proven, successful basketball know-how and achieve

greatness, so they hired Jackson and gave him full control of the organization
from lofty executive decisions to ground level team strategy with high hopes
that hed turn things around with all his genius of the game, as he did in
Chicago and LA. With 11 championship titles and the best regular season
record under his belt, he obviously knew something right. So Jackson pulled
the triangle offense off the shelf once again in remembrance of past
successes, amidst some speculative outside wisdoms that suggested it would
not work. Surely, this go-to solution for synergy was the secret ingredient
missing from the New York Knicks basketball playbook, and this was Phil
Jackson, the best to have ever done it, coaching. On the contrary, the New
York Knicks showed no signs of improvement after operating within the
triangle and eyebrows raised rampantly. The skeptics were right this time.
They had taken into account the drastic changes in basketball culture that
had engulfed the NBA just as changing conditions have done in the
professional world we know today.

Phil was a proven winner and the

triangle was a proven strategy and it was absolutely dominant in past years,
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but it wasnt working. So what was the problem? After posting two of the
worst seasons in NBA history it was obvious that Phil needed to re-examine
his execution of the philosophy ingrained in the triangle and reform his
strategy to better reflect the times. The triangle was in need renovation.
Remember Steve Kerr? The guy who got punched in the face by
Michael Jordan in practice? Well he doesnt play anymore. Hes a coach now,
and currently is the Head Coach of the new champions of the NBA, the
Golden State Warriors. Championship status is no surprise at all when we
consider the fact that Steve played with the best coach of all-time in Jackson,
played alongside the best player of all-time in Jordan, and together, they
were the best team ever in history. Primarily with the Bulls, Kerr was a role
player that operated within the mechanism of their triangle offense, and his
primary role was to shoot open shots. He holds the NBA record for career
three-point percentage (45.4%, 726-of-1599) and the single-season record for
three-point accuracy, hitting 52.4 percent (89-of-170) of his attempts during
the 1994-95 campaign with the Bulls. He is the only non-Boston Celtic to win
four-straight NBA titles and just the second player in NBA history to win two
championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons. Those
teams were the Bulls, of course, and the San Antonio Spurs, under coaching
great, Greg Popovich. Steve Kerr had been through the fire and came out as
pure as gold in basketball philosophy as he brought together the great
strategies of two of the best coaches in the league. Steve Kerr took the
triangle offense with him to Oakland, tweaked it, adding in principles of the
motion offense in San Antonio, and now has one of the most efficient offenses
in the history of basketball with the Golden State Warriors. In fact, this
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season he coached the Warriors to 73 wins, breaking the record set by the
Bulls 20 years ago. In an interview with Tim Kawalami of the San Jose
Mercury News, Kerr was asked about his offensive strategies. Heres what he
had to say:
It will be influenced by the Triangle, but it will not look like the Bulls of
the 90's, I can tell you that. The game has changed and I think my philosophy
would reflect that, (Hughes)4.
The game had shifted drastically since the golden years of the triangle
in Chicago. Post play, which was relatively a big factor in the triangle
strategy, had become relatively pass in the current, more up-tempo style of
the game. The NBA transitioned into a small mans league, as opposed to
the heavy focus on the big fellows from when Jackson was coaching with so
much success. As in the world today, and also business, the NBA had
become less physical and more stylistic. The beauty of Kerr's proposed
system was that it drew as much from the Triangle as it did from the San
Antonio Spurs' "motion weak" offense which features nonstop movement,
attacks and counters all designed to get defenders on their heels in space,
and utilize the increased level of athleticism and passing of big men, and elite
ball-handling and precise distance shooting of smaller players that was now a
strong suit of basketball in the NBA. Steve did not just follow a recipe; he
4 Hughes, Grant. Steve Kerrs Hybrid Triangle Offense will Unleash Stephen
Curry. Bleacher Report. August 2014.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2162125-steve-kerrs-hybrid-triangleoffense-will-unleash-stephen-curry
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took two very exceptional ingredient lists and converged them together. He
was open to the necessary adjustments and calibrations that reflected the
culture of the present situation in basketball. Steve was bold to rely on an
outdated philosophy (the triangle), but he was successful in making it work
by implementing other successful schemes in collaboration with what was
proven.
Now, how can professional workplaces be as bold like Steve Kerr and
revolutionize business utilizing proven methods in collaboration? Well, since
1996, a group of industry chief executives and human resource professionals
have been working together under the auspices of a nonprofit organization
called the Business Opportunities for Leadership Diversity (BOLD) Initiative to
help American corporations learn how to leverage their cultural diversity for
competitive advantage. These leaders espouse the view that a more diverse
workforce will increase organizational effectivenessIn 1997, the BOLD
Initiative asked a group of researchers from a cross section of universities to
design a large-scale field research project to examine the relationships
between gender and racial diversity and business performanceMembers of
the Diversity Research Network developed the model collaboratively based
on a comprehensive review of the large number of laboratory studies and the
small number of field studies concerning the effects of diversity on group
dynamics and group performanceThe model reflects both theory and
empirical research, which suggest that whether diversity has a positive or
negative impact on performance may depend on several aspects of an
organizations strategy, culture, and human resource. The model proposes
that these effects are likely to operate through group or team processes, such
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that under facilitating conditions, diversity is associated with positive group
or team processes and is therefore beneficial to performance; whereas under
inhibiting conditions, diversity is associated with negative group or team
processes and is therefore detrimental to performance, (Kochan).
Weve come full circle; weve completed our triangulation of teamwork.
Hopefully, we can revolutionize our workplaces and our world as a whole
through our vigilance in considerations toward the versatility of teamwork
and approaches thereof in light of growing diversity.

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Annotated Bibliography
Bolman, Lee G., and Terrence E. Deal. "What makes a team work?" Organizational
Dynamics 21.2 (1992): 34-44.
What enables a group to push toward peak performance over an extended
period of time? We hear so much about teamwork. But what makes a team
work? Every answer to this question and there are plenty) comes with
guaranteed results printed on its package. But reliable answers remain as
elusive as a sure-fire diet for losing weight. Low-performing teams dash from
fad to elixir to frustration and disappointment, and quick-fix recipes continue
to substitute for deeper change in our time-honored ways of thinking about
the essence of teamwork.
Cohen, Philip R., and Hector J. Levesque. "Teamwork." Nous 25.4 (1991): 487-512.
This article is from a premier philosophy journal (Nos) that publishes highquality critical essays, brief discussions, and important results of philosophic
research. In this article by Philip R. Cohen and Hector J. Levesque, a
philosophical breakdown of teamwork is explored to answer the question of
what benefits are expected by individual agents from team participation and
what keeps teams together in the midst of diverse ideologies and beliefs?
Indeed a primary goal of this research is to discover what would hold the
team together, while still allowing team members to arrive at private beliefs
about the status of the shared activity (Cohen 489). The mentality of team
is dissected here and the internal struggles faced by team members during
production due to diversity are discussed.
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Cooney, Thomas. "What is an entrepreneurial team?" (2005).

It is arguable that despite the romantic notion of the entrepreneur as a lone
hero, the reality is that successful entrepreneurs either built teams about
them or were part of a team throughout. For example, when one considers
the success of Apple Computers, the name of Steven Jobs immediately
springs to mind.
Crotty, Susan K., and Jeanne M. Brett. "Fusing creativity: Cultural metacognition and
teamwork in multicultural teams." Negotiation and Conflict Management Research
5.2 (2012): 210-234.
The study introduces cultural metacognition, a dimension of cultural
intelligence as an antecedent of fusion teamwork and creativity. Basically,
this article brings audience analysis to the workplace highlighting how we can
increase team productivity by being aware of and prepared for cultural
differences and preferences within the framework of teamwork.
Dionne, Shelley D., et al. "Transformational leadership and team performance."
Journal of organizational change management 17.2 (2004): 177-193.

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We discuss how transformational leadership theory can provide a framework

in which to investigate a leader's impact on team performance. We posit that
idealized influence/inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and
individualized consideration could produce intermediate outcomes such as
shared vision, team commitment, an empowered team environment and
functional team conflict. In turn, these intermediate outcomes may positively
affect team communication, cohesion and conflict management.
Implications for team development, team training and team structure are
presented. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

Dwertmann, David JG, Lisa H. Nishii, and Daan van Knippenberg. "Disentangling the
Fairness & Discrimination and Synergy Perspectives on Diversity Climate: Moving
the Field Forward." (2016).
The core issues identified include the fact that diversity climate is typically
treated as unidimensional, whereas diversity research would suggest that
there are two major perspectives that could be reflected in diversity climate
efforts to ensure equal employment opportunity and the absence of
discrimination versus efforts to create synergy from diversity.
Forsyth, Donelson R. Group Dynamics. Belmont, CA: Thomas Wadsworth 2006.
Hamilton, Barton H., Jack A. Nickerson, and Hideo Owan. "Team incentives and
worker heterogeneity: An empirical analysis of the impact of teams on productivity
and participation." Journal of political Economy 111.3 (2003): 465-497.

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This paper identifies and evaluates rationales for team participation and for
the effects of team composition on productivity using novel data from a
garment plant that shifted from individual piece rate to group piece rate
production over three years. The adoption of teams at the plant improved
worker productivity by 14 percent on average. Productivity improvement was
greatest for the earliest teams and diminished as more workers engaged in
team production, providing support for the view that teams utilize
collaborative skills, which are less valuable in individual production. Highproductivity workers tended to join teams first, despite a loss in earnings in
many cases, suggesting nonpecuniary benefits associated with teamwork.
Kochan, Thomas, et al. "The effects of diversity on business performance: Report of
the diversity research network." Human resource management 42.1 (2003): 3-21.

This article summarizes the results and conclusions reached in studies of the
relationships between race and gender diversity and business performance
carried out in four large firms by a research consortium known as the
Diversity Research Network. These researchers were asked by the BOLD
Initiative to conduct this research to test arguments regarding the business
case for diversity. Few positive or negative direct effects of diversity on
performance were observed. Instead a number of different aspects of the
organizational context and some group processes moderated diversityperformance relationships.

Nol, Sylvie, and Jean-Marc Robert. "Empirical study on collaborative writing: What
do co-authors do, use, and like?" Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
13.1 (2004): 63-89.
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This article highlights various methods and tools writers use while working in
groups to be most effective as a unit. The goal of the current study was to
investigate how people work together when they are writing, and in particular
what tools they use to write and to communicate (Nol pg. 63). Herein, we
are informed of many venues that writers have used or currently use with
commentary from users.
Rice, Rodney P., and John T. Huguley Jr. "Describing collaborative forms: A profile of
the team-writing process." Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on 37.3
(1994): 163-170.
This essay examines collaborative writing practices students in the Air Force
Institute of Technologys Graduate School of Logistics and Acquisition
Management use to produce team-authored theses. In analyzing how
student writing teams plan, execute, and assess writing activities, the
researchers identify and describe some of the forms that collaboration takes,
thereby successfully connecting their work within a broader research
continuum concerning collaborative writing, particularly when applied in
academic settings.
Romero, Eric, and Anthony Pescosolido. "Humor and group effectiveness." Human
Relations 61.3 (2008): 395-418.
The purpose of this article is to present a model, based on Hackmans
framework of group effectiveness that can be used to understand the
relationship between successful organizational humor and group
effectiveness. An exploration of the ability of successful organizational humor

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to influence groups through its positive impact on group productivity, viability
and learning.
Ward, Lester F. Glimpses of the Cosmos, volume VI (18971912) G. P. Putnam's
Sons, 1918, p. 358
Vallas, Steven P. "Why teamwork fails: Obstacles to workplace change in four
manufacturing plants." American Sociological Review (2003): 223-250.
Sometimes change is inevitable and traditions need tweaking to enable
future success within evolving organizations, but the whole unit needs to be
aware and on board, from the executives to. In this article, social and
organizational conditions that limited the impact of workplace transformation
at four manufacturing plants during the 1900s are explored. Implementation
of these changes was effected by the leaderships willingness to lead by
example in demonstrating the flexibility demanded on hourly employees
through policy change.

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