When you were in elementary school I bet you received a report card with a section that indicated how well you played with the other kids in your class. Strangely enough, schools have been promoting collaboration in this way for decades, even though it has become a sort of joke.
Yet, for reasons that are unclear, as we moved into high school, college and into the workplace, the ratings stopped and no one placed much importance them. It seems that independence and doing things in your own way became more important than how well you “played” with your fellow workers.
Most organizations that I am familiar with place individual accomplishment way above teamwork, although they may espouse teamwork publically. In every team I was ever part of, someone was vying with someone else for recognition, credit or even the rights to an accomplishment. Teams were competitive environments where political savvy and first mover advantage were prized.
Baby Boomers and Gen X are particularly bad at teamwork. They like to work and be rewarded as individuals. When they are part of so-called team, they are usually just tolerant of the others on the team and do not really deeply engage to achieve a collective result.
Not surprisingly, most people in the corporate world have little use for teamwork, which is often synonymous with wasting time or for helping someone else get credit for what many others actually did. There is little willingness to give up titles and position power to achieve goals.
Compensation functions have been very reluctant to rewards teams, although there is good evidence that when entire teams are rewarded as a group better results often occur. Team is also frequently more productive than individuals and can apportion work according to ability and need. Teams require less management oversight as they regulate themselves and apply peer pressure to keep workers on time and productive.
Schools have done a better job recently of producing people who really do play well with others. From elementary school through university, classroom work and assignments are group-oriented. Gen Y – those in their twenties – have grown up in a collaborative, group-oriented world. They sit in groups, work in teams, and get rewarded as team players. School activities are centered on team sports and group projects. Very little individual work is required.
Many university assignments involve teams and require students to learn the give and take of working with others. Some corporations are offering classes in collaboration and the focus is increasingly on how to create synergy between departments and people. Yet playing well with others is still not a typical measurement of performance nor are people who practice collaboration rewarded.
It is likely that these people will continue to work in project and group focused ways throughout their careers. And that will change the nature of the workplace significantly. It also leaves the questions of whether playing well with others will lead to more innovation or productivity than we have today and what this will mean for our American love of the rugged individualist.
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