The Importance of Teams in Healthcare

5.7 Appreciating Other Songs

At Australian football matches, the end of the game is typically

marked by the winning team’s theme song being broadcast over

the sound system and enthusiastically sung by supporters of that

club as they rejoice in the success. It is a great tradition. However,

at some point, years ago, I realised that I had changed. Now, instead

of singing my own team’s song in victory and staying grumpily silent

in defeat, I happily sing the song of whichever team wins, even if it

isn’t the team I support. I enjoy the words of each song and the act

of celebrating the game. It isn’t that I don’t care if my team wins or

not. I still strongly support my own club; it’s that I have realised that

the game is more important to me than any individual club. Without

other clubs to play against, there would be no competition. And if my

team won every single game, there would be no suspense, and no

resultant joy accompanying the victory. In that sense, all supporters

must appreciate all clubs, and to some degree, support the other

clubs also.

Within organisations, including hospitals, oftentimes there will

be meetings where all attendees seem only concerned about self-

interest. At these times, the saying, ‘The squeaky wheel gets the

oil’ comes into play. It commonly appears that the loudest, most

obnoxious opinions seem to be rewarded with greater resources

than others who have a more dignified approach. As the leader of

my department, I wondered whether I was remiss if I didn’t whinge

and create havoc to best serve the interests of my own unit. These

were not behavioural styles that I wished to adopt, and I realised

that the loudest leaders often had poorly functioning teams. It

became apparent to me that these leaders were more transactional

in their outlook than transformational. This was the reason their

teams didn’t gel. Unfortunately, with the lack of humility shown,

it appeared that they would never be able to become outstanding

leaders. However, these voices were not only disruptive, but also

too often rewarded. It seems that the only way this too-frequent scenario does

not play out is when the chairperson can recognise that allowing over-

whelming self-interest is not in the best interests of the meeting or

the organisation. Even better if the concept of ‘no pitch’ meetings

are encouraged. Within this framework, participants in the meet-

ing cannot push their own agendas, and all attendees are trying to

work together for the betterment of the organisation as a whole. The

‘no-pitch’ concept can remove much bickering and jockeying for resources.

This style of meeting removes the self-interest that often comes at the expense

of the overall good. Without all departments flourishing, the hospital or institution

does not achieve the same level of success, irrespective of where the

resources are allocated. There are times when it is acceptable to push

one’s own department’s agenda, but more often the right course of

action is to consider others and the needs of the whole.

Sometimes the right thing to do is to sing the other team’s song.