From Lose Friends Radio comes this segment called ‘Sporting analogies and teamwork’, narrated as an excerpt from one of Jonar’s books. You can read the transcript below, or listen to the original broadcast by clicking on the green play button: [audio:BTB_34_Teamwork.mp3]
From the Lose Friends series, here is what Jonar Nader has written about: SPORTING ANALOGIES & TEAMWORK
In organisational terms, sporting analogies are farcical because if they are to mean anything on the corporate front, sport would have had to endure the same changes and challenges faced by a typical business. This would translate to a baseball team having to function without a coach, half the number of players, play twice as many games per season, with each game lasting double the original duration. Many more meetings would be required mid-game, as well as the introduction of robots or some mechanisation to replace players. How would the team cope with industrial action mid-game, or with having to answer e-mails at half time, or breaking the team into smaller divisions from which they would have to negotiate services?
Teamwork does not work in organisations that set targets for individuals. It is unreasonable to expect teamwork to work when individual goals are vital for individual survival. Furthermore, teamwork is useless in organisations that depend on rank because rank brings with it some privileges.
Never mind ‘teamwork’. What one ought to strive for is a ‘team that works’.
For information about Jonar’s books, please visit the official website www.LoseFriends.com
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