Where’s all the great advice for teams?

I read a lot of business books, and I have a big problem with most of them. They seem to think I’m a CEO and I’m not.

I actually like that executive leaders have so much smart advice available. Good for them! It’s lonely at the top, but in a King-Kong-on-a-tower kind of way.

But most of us aren’t in that reality. Most of us are in teams of people working for a mid-level leader who is a work in progress, not a once-in-a-generation genius. Or, looking to King Kong again, we’re the poor civilians trying to cope with the ape’s arrival.

The problem isn’t that leaders are bad. The problem is that they’re human. So how about if we start focusing more on the place where most workers actually sit: the team.

Three things about teams really stand out to me: capacity, perspective, and creativity.

We’re Meant to do the Big Things Together

One brilliant scientist can’t bring a life-saving drug to market alone. A genius programmer can seldom turn a useful app into a sustainable business without help. A visionary artist rarely makes a living off their art without help.

Why is this?

People doing hard things need rest, backup, and other people’s skills. I’m fascinated with the way teams can support each other through adversity, failures, and fluctuating life situations. There’s unusual magic there. 

One Mind Can’t Be Everywhere

Our brains are pretty powerful, but they’re not that flexible; we have a singular viewpoint and limited attention. 

Take viewpoints; even a next level genius has lived only one life and has only their own point of view. Sure, try to synthesize two viewpoints by yourself. It’s like playing Monopoly alone: boring and predictable.

Attention matters too. I‘m always amazed at how the best teams, like the best bands, are able to lavish full, sustained attention on more than one idea for a long time. 

Difference Creates Possibility

If I had to pick a favorite thing about seeing people attempt hard things together, it’s the way people who trust each other push to the weirder places creativity can find. 

Ever watched four coworkers fight like family? It’s awkward to outsiders, but what’s really going on is people who trust and accept each other enough to push each other and let themselves be pushed. That’s special.

Sparks, after all, need some kind of friction.

Open Questions

Taken together, the capacity, perspective, and creativity of teams are the recipe for solving hard, important problems: fixing transit, curing viruses, preempting climate catastrophe, and inventing wacky new snack foods. Teams make people more than the sum of their parts.

Increasingly, the most urgent work will be the work of teams, but only if they’re great. Mediocre teams miss all these virtues, while consuming exponentially more resources.

But here’s the thing. The edge possibilities of a great team are enormous, and they’re mostly untapped.  

I’m fascinated with what makes great teamwork possible, and I’m going to spend a lot of time finding out.