When The Strength of a Team Is Less Than The Sum Of The Individual Within

When The Strength of a Team Is Less Than The Sum Of The Individual Within

?

Any sports fan has heard the maxim: “The team is greater than the sum of the individuals within it.” In almost every context we can think of, we like that maxim. For example, this is true for the Dedicated Team.

It is completely wrong. However, for the Shared Staff. The simple reason is that the Shared Staff already has a job to do – excelling at ongoing operations. It’s a demanding job, and there’s no letup. The Shared Staff can’t break away from it.

One of the reasons that companies ask too much of Shared Staff is that they look at the enormous talents of the individuals within the Shared Staff and imagine that they could do anything! What’s critical to realize is that these individuals have already been organized for a very specific purpose – the day–to–day work of the Performance Engine. Everyone has been given a narrowly defined role, and well–established processes move the work from one person to the next: on budget, and spec.

This may deliver consistent results, but it also creates severe limitations, and you can see them in teams as small as just two people. think about someone you’ve worked with for a long time. You know her well; she knows you well. The division of work is clear. You know exactly what to expect from her, she knows exactly what to expect from you. You know the types of decisions that she’s in charge of, and vice versa. You know exactly what information she’ll share with you routinely, and vice versa.

Now imagine that the two of you were given a completely new and unfamiliar assignment. It will require that you rethink and renegotiate your work relationship from scratch. Maybe even the balance of power will shift dramatically. Maybe you’ve always worked for her, but in the new assignment, she’ll be working for you.

Bringing about a dramatic change in work relationships, even in groups of just two people, is hard work. Now imagine trying to do so while simultaneously sustaining excellence in the work you already do. It’s nearly impossible. every day, the existing work reinforces the relationship that’s already in place.

If you could pull the Shared Staff away from its responsibilities for day-to-day operations, then it is at least possible to break down the team and reassemble it. You could redefine roles, responsibilities, and hierarchy. You could reshape the work relationships between each pair of individuals on the team.

By doing so, you might be able to convert a team that designed tractors into one that designs locomotives. You might turn a sales team that excelled at closing small transactional sales every day into one that works more methodically toward bigger sales every month. You might be able to transform a consumer-oriented marketing team into one that is effective in reaching business buyers. But you’d have no hope of doing any of this without first removing the day–to–day pressures that the team already faces.

Think about it. Not even the world’s most talented eleven athletes could simultaneously play soccer and (American) football. The thought is, on the surface, laughable. That said, many companies make the mistake of imagining that the Shared Staff’s only constraint is the individual skills of the people within it. The folly is exactly the same. No matter how talented the individuals are, the Shared Staff’s capabilities are narrow. They are limited by the way the team is organized- and you cannot change the way the Shared Staff is organized without inflicting damage on the Performance Engine.

Credit: Beyond the Idea. Simple, powerful rules for successful innovation. By Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble. New York Times bestselling authors of Reverse Innovation.