The "Why" in Team

It's often been said that "There's no 'I' in team" and that the individual should put the good of the team above their own individual gain, but why is this? Recently, after I completed the Goruck Challenge, a friend asked why do an event like this as a part of a team vs an individual race. My initial gut reaction response was a righteously indignant "because teamwork is good." After a bit, this question caused me to think deeper into the nature of teamwork and why working as a part of a team is beneficial.

Let me give you a bit of background. For me, working as a part of a team has always been a given. I drank the kool-aid early on this one. Growing up, there were only two reasons I was ever allowed to get into a fight. The first one was before my first day of first of school starting first grade, my dad pulled me aside and said that he didn't care if anyone said anything about him, but if anyone said anything about my mama, well I needed to take care of that. He informed me of the second and only other reason I could justify fighting when I started playing team sports at age eight. He told me that if there was ever a team fight I better be the first one off the bench. Giving to the team, sacrificing for the team, placing the importance of the team over the importance of the individual have been common themes from my early childhood well through my adulthood. The importance of teamwork is one of those truths that I always took for granted and never challenged, until now.

After thinking about it, working as a part of a team has on many times been one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. Most likely almost all of us can relate to being on a team where at least one person didn't do there share forcing the rest of the group to pick up the slack for them. The slacker or slackers on the team would either get a free ride and enjoy all the benefits for which everyone else had worked, or would drag the team down to failure. So again, there's still the question, why would a hardworking self motivated person want to be a part of a team? The answer to that turned out to be pretty simple. Working as a team is also one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done.

The standard motivational saying is that team stands for "Together Everyone Achieves More." Even though some members of a team may be more skilled or in better shape than others, when a group of individuals truly come together and form into a team, the whole is always greater and can accomplish more than the sum of the individual parts. The key to teamwork is not that everyone necessarily gives the same amount, but that everyone gives as much as they can to the team. If I'm pushing through a grueling workout and look over and see someone else that may not be in the same shape as me that's pushing even farther outside of their comfort zone for the team, and thereby pushing themselves for me, it inspires me to push farther. When you get a whole group of people that are all pushing themselves and pushing each other farther, the team is able to accomplish more than they would individually.

Another benefit to teamwork is that knowing that when pushing to your limits or past, your team will be there to help you out. In the GRC those that were feeling strong were able double back and help carry the packs of those that weren't feeling as strong. The folks that carried the extra packs at the beginning may have needed someone to shoulder their pack later in the challenge. If not they were able to keep pushing, confident in the knowledge that if the need ever came someone would be there to shoulder their pack and help them out.

My biggest examples of this have come through my experiences with the fire department. While as a firefighter teamwork is crucial to our everyday life at the crew level, teamwork for us extends around the world. In the last post I mentioned the amazing outpouring of support from firefighters from across the globe to help out and honor the fallen San Francisco firefighters.

http://nuffsaid6.blogspot.com/2011/06/june10-2011.html

The majority of us didn't know the two firefighters personally, but that we did know that we are all apart of the same team. We came to help, hoping that other departments would never have to do to the same for us, but knowing that they would be there without hesitation if we were ever in the same position.

And thirdly, celebrations are infinitely better when celebrating with a group. Individual accomplishments are great, but celebrating accomplishments as a group is the gift that keeps on giving. When celebrating team accomplishments, you also get to celebrate the amazing bonds that are forged among the team members through shared experiences. Usually, the harder a team has to work together, the harder they have to push themselves and each other, the stronger the bonds. When this happens, the team becomes a community, a family. Even though you may be separated by your teammates by time or distance or both, you can still continue to inspire them and be inspired by them. Teamwork transcends beyond a single event or season and extends into the rest of your life.