In our May 1998 issue of EI Network I railed against Jon Katzenbach's new book Teams at the Top because he essentially condoned the non-team behavior of top executives. This behavior is part of the problem when attempting to implement team concepts within an organization. People look upward for signals of behavior and, not seeing anything resembling teamwork, conclude that operating this way is not in their best interest. And so we continue to struggle with team concepts and again wonder why. Much of the problem of making teams successful in the workplace stems from our past perceptions of what teams are, and a complete ignorance of the powerful principles that underlay them.
Teams are really just a formal way to actualize collaboration .
Collaboration is at the heart of successful decision making, but somehow this fact alludes us. It is the point that, incredibly, Katzenbach missed in his book mentioned above. Teaming isn't something we do because it creates harmonious work groups, or is neat to do. It is a way to formalize the power of collaboration among individuals. It is a way to blend the talents, skills, and inherent creativity of diverse people.