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If I ask you one thing about what teams need to succeed, the answers will be varied. One of the most obvious answers will be teamwork, but this is not a complete solution to a problem that we face. Some of you will come up with answers like hard work dedication and commitment. The mantra for success is what most people look for.
For businesses, it is like the ultimate factor for their success. They need to think of ways how to be successful in the marketplace. But most of you miss the trick here as there are many other things that you need to think about for being successful. Let me you an example related to sports so that you can understand my viewpoint easily.
What can we learn from Sports?
We all know that every sport is a team game. While there are sports in which individual play, most of the sports are played between two teams. The performance of the individuals matter, but it is the overall team effort which makes a team edge ahead of the other. Take the example of football in which teams can score only when there is a complete team effort.
There are countless examples of how companies can make it to the top with the help of good players. But there are an equal number of examples, if not more, in which even star players are not able to save their team from a humiliating defeat. One of the prime examples in this concern is how England lost to Iceland in Euro 2016, and it was one of the most talked-about matches of that year. Let’s talk about what happened there.
Football at Its Best
The game which I have just mentioned above is a classic example now even star players worth hundreds of millions of pounds were not able to live up to the expectations. Star players are inducted in any team so that they can contribute to it. But if they would become a liability rather than an asset, then what? That match also ended in the same fashion, as mighty England with star players left biting the dust as minnows Iceland beat them. That was a bigger shock than Brexit!
In real life, too, companies go to any length to hire experienced and skilled employees from other companies. They offer them a flattering package, to say the least so that to lure them to their company. But, on average, over half of those employees could not perform well enough or even perform below average or mediocre performance. So, what’s the reason? Let’s discuss this aspect now.
Wisdom of the Crowd
Wisdom of the crowd is a quite well-known idea as it is all about many brains working together on an idea so that the outcome is bang on target. Collaborative efforts are always thought of to be good as exchange of ideas and conversations bring out the best in team members. And they can come up with ideas and conclusions which offer some food for thought.
But, somehow, not every time this trick works. For example, there are examples when the best of the minds fails to come up with a conclusion and can’t make their team tick. This is an example of how things can go wrong even when so-called genius people are at the helm of affairs. This is exactly what they need to make things tick here. Nowadays, researchers now have come with a new strategy, which is all about avoiding what you are told by a committee or group of people. Before that, you need to test the intelligence of the group of the people in it.
Testing the Intelligence of a Group
It is all about testing the star players in a team; as to why they are not able to make things work in their favor. Have you ever thought about the reasons why a group of intelligent people sometimes fail to impress the top management concerning any tip? This can be disastrous for not only the team members but the team on the whole.
This can take months for such tests to conclude and give us reason what exactly goes wrong nobody in the team nor outside has much of an idea. For example, most of us may think a team failed due to lots of pressure or was given a task that was too much for the members. The use of a task management tool in this concern can be a good ploy, but there are examples that even then, the teams fail. So, what is the reason? Read on.
Reasons can be Aplenty
Let me offer you an example of how top Wall Street banks employ people who are star performers but still can’t get the best results. One good reason in this concern is the saturation point where a large number of top performers can make it overwhelmed with such talent. Logically, it should be the other way around, as more top performers should make a company perform well. So, what’s the reason? Let me clarify.
A team full of star performers and maverick individuals perform well up to a certain point. After that, it fails to materialize fully to its potential, and the graph of its performance only goes downhill after that point. On average, it is around 45% of the team.
The glut in the form of talent can lead to varied opinion from most of the people. And virtually everyone will emphasize how things should be dealt in a particular scenario, and this is one reason why the situation goes out of control. As the team is comprised of highly qualified and experienced individuals, no one listens to other’s version and insist that his interpretation should be followed.
Final Word
If you think that you can add something valuable to this blog and you have experienced something different in the workplace, please share it with us. Also, if you want to ask something from me that is bothering you, do not hesitate to ask. Please use the comments section below in this concern.
