The Power of Teams

This past week, I was once again reminded of the how important teams (and well managed ones) are.



First, this weekend, the U.S. in somewhat of an upset recaptured the Ryder Cup (golf's American-European biannual team competition). They did this after losing the last 3 competitions -- the last two by lopsided scores. They did it without the best player on the planet, Tiger Woods. And they did it with 6 rookies on the team. So how did they do it?



Golf is an individual sport, but the Ryder Cup is the closest thing professionals get to a team golfing event. But it would still seem that even in this event you are only as good as the talent on the team. But actually, teams can generate synergy that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. Sometimes this synergy (or team dynamics) is spontaneous or just happens. Usually, however, it happens because of a leader with a plan.



The U.S. team's leader, Captain Paul Azinger, did some things like a) set up 4-man sub-teams that played together to prepare for the team events; b) picked players based on toughness and youth rather than "over-rated" experience; c) and focused his team (many of them millionaires) on performance rather than getting along with each other (he did away with some of the common cushy perks that were prevalent for previous Cup squads). Most importantly, Azinger had a plan and implemented it. Sometimes luck is the result of hard work and a well thought out plan.



Second, and much more offbeat . . . last week I had the opportunity to work with about a dozen managers in different fields. One of these managers is also a fan of the Cleveland Indians, but his lifelong fandom has ended temporarily -- thanks to the wonderful world of capitalism. At mid-year, Cleveland threw in the towel for the season trading their best player. This fan decided to be a mercenary and sell his fandom on eBay!



And he found a buyer who paid $300 so that this disaffected Indian fan would now become a Chicago Cub fan for the rest of the year. Terms of sale: must watch at least one Cub game a week and send two emails about the Cubs a week -- as long as the Cubs are still playing this season. Entrepreneurism alive and well! Now why didn't Royals fans think of this.