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Packages are too inflexible and don't provide competitive differentiation, but custom-built solutions are too slow [to develop] and costly. System integrators are starting to offer next-generation pre-built solutions. - Gartner Research

Teamwork in interaction with others

Teamwork is often talked about, but not enough practiced discipline in the business world, as well as other areas of life. It consists of simple principles, but not always easy to integrate into one's behavior.

As this old Mexican proverb states, it is not really about knowing what is teamwork that is the difficulty, but actually doing it every day is the main challenge:

The Saints did not pray to the Good Lord for instructions on what to do. The Bible was already clear on what was expected of them. Nevertheless, the Saints got down on their knees every day of the their lives - to pray that, in spite of daily temptations, they could find the courage and strength to do the right thing. - Old Mexican Proverb.

We see the following three points as crucial to true teamwork:

1. Trust
   Teamwork requires first and foremost trust, instead of suspicion towards others. We rather have trust than showing in-vulnerability. We are required to think of "win-win" (Steven Covey's 4th habit) instead of "us-vs-them" view of the world.
   
   
2. Feedback (encouraging and correcting)
   For a person and a team to be continually learning, one has to be open to receiving feedback, both in the form of encouragement and in the form of correction. Rarely there is difficulty in giving or receiving encouraging or praising feedback. However, correcting feedback, one that requires that a person sees a mistake that they have made and then change the work or habits such that they improve, can be much more difficult to give properly and even more so to receive well and welcome.
   
   
3. Focus on Results

Some additional resources you may find helpful on these subjects are: 

• Patrick Lencioni's web site: www.tablegroup.com
• Patrick Lencioni's Amazon.com BLOG
• Articles by Patrick Lencioni
• Three Signs of a Miserable Job
  • The Model: The Three Signs of a Miserable Job tackles employee satisfaction and fulfillment. ( PDF)
  • View Pat being interviewed on the Three Signs ( video)
  • Patrick Lencioni answers some common questions about his new book and model. ( PDF)
  • Job Misery Statistics: Short summary of research findings that support a job misery epidemic. ( PDF)
  • More resources
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
  • The Model: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team explores the behaviors that derail teams. ( PDF)
  • Summary Article: Read a brief summary of the model outlined in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. ( PDF)
  • Author Q&A: Author Patrick Lencioni answers some common questions about his Five Dysfunctions model. ( PDF)
  • More resources

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