Family "!=" Team

Readers might wonder why I'm discussing family and team dynamics when, by profession, I'm a Risk professional, not a sociologist [but yes now on the journey to become a coach]. A manager's comment from one of my earlier roles eons ago prompted epistle. The gent had remarked, "We work like a family" wherein he was referring the work culture of the team that he was heading. Recollecting the intense feelings that I experienced, I had then, I pondered if my reaction was peculiar to me. But then recently, an industry colleague shared a similar experience, sparking my thoughts on this comment and motivating me to write about it.

Upon researching, I discovered that while both families and teams’ structures are defined by cooperation, communication, and support, but they fundamentally differ in their primary objectives. A family stands as a fundamental social unit being based on emotional and relational bonds, while a team rallies around achieving specific goals efficiently in a professional setting. In my view, traditional family structures provide crucial emotional support but can at time be a breeding ground for patriarchy if its transplanted into a professional environment. In such cases there would be individuals who would end up adopting a 'Head of the Family' mentality which adversely influence a larger group. This happens due to them demanding [at times implied] supplication, approval, and consultation before actions all leading to a slow down in decision making. This toxic behaviour, compounded with an all-knowing attitude, alienates dissenters, causes ostracisation within the group of individuals. In a familial structures everyone is expected to contribute to any occurring situation, this system lacks efficiency. Unlike in a professional team, where roles are allocated based on expertise, maximising efficiency & performance. In a team, every member has a role for which they train for contributing in achieving the goal. In field hockey, there's a term called rolling substitution, where an expert drag flicker/or a player with a specific skill can be brought in at the appropriate time to execute the set piece & then return to the bench. This process is purely based on increasing efficiency and improving the team's performance.

In basketball, the success of teams like the Chicago Bulls of the 1990’s is attributed to each team member having a distinct role that contributed to the team's success. Michael Jordan famously said, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." A purposefully thought out & created team brings diverse skills, which increases productivity, shares the workload, & with clearly assigned roles in the task/project to be addressed. Obviously leading to success. So, is forming a team the panacea for improving productivity, effectiveness, and success? Again another sporting analogy. Merely forming a team does not guarantee success, as was seen in the US's 2004 'Dream Team [?]' Olympic basketball squad consisting of NBA legends & coached by an even bigger legend imploded spectacularly. Thier lack of coordination/direction, communication breakdowns, egos overshadowing team interests, and interpersonal conflicts led to their stunning failure in the 2004 Olympic games. Team USA ended up with a bronze, which definitely was not a true representation of the talent that had been stuffed into the team.

The success of a team is dependent on it being nurtured in an environment of open communication, inclusion of diverse skill sets, with personnel drawn from various backgrounds, while being based on the bedrock of trust, respect, & effective leadership that can resolve conflicts openly and fairly. This has to be coupled with providing a culture of continuous improvement & also provide necessary resources for empowering the team. Just forming a team does not ensure success.

Neither a team nor a family setup is inherently bad, each having its merits when being deployed in the right environment with the right guardrails. If it’s interchanged then it can prove to be disastrous.

Personally, I am content with my family that fate has delivered to me. So, no I do not want any more families in my life nor be part of any. 

But yes being part of an agile, purposeful, and supportive professional team who's is working towards a shared goal would definitely be interesting.That is rather exciting prospect.         

PS - I am sure that there would be folks who are looking for oppurtunites for having more families. I wish them well too.

References for some of the terms that I used:

?1. Rolling substitution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitution_(sport)

2. Drag flick - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_flick

3. Chicago Bulls - https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/5MichaelJordanTeammates

4. 2004 US Olympic basketball team - https://www.sports-king.com/2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team-disaster-3488/

5. "!=" in Python depicts Not Equal to