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    Entries in teamwork (14)

    Tuesday
    Feb072012

    Staying classy on the way out

    So we are all coming down from the excitement, drama, and spectacular display of talent from the Super Bowl, (actually I am sort of guessing about all that, as this post is being written about 8 hours before the actual kickoff), and for the last day or so talk about the game, the commercials, the half time show (how was it?), has dominated online and offline discourse. Tiquan Underwood - Source AP

    In all the excitement over the build-up, the game itself, and all the hype surrounding the event, you may have missed or forgotten about one piece of game-related news that broke late on Saturday night, less than 24 hours before the latest Game of the Century. The New England Patriots made a final roster move, releasing backup Wide Receiver Tiquan Underwood, and activating from the practice (reserve) squad, Defensive End Alex Silvestro. Since this move did not involve any well-known players, or figure to have a meaningful impact on the game, it was not really big news. But to Underwood and Silvestro, the move has enormous significance, one player losing the chance to play in the biggest game of his life, (even as only a little-used reserve), and the other given the chance to suit up, run through the tunnel, and take a small part on the stage of the biggest sporting event of the year.

    The Patriots made it clear that the decision to release Underwood was 100% football-related, as in the past some players have run afoul of team rules and curfews on the night before the big game. No, the team executives and coaches simply felt having another defensive line player on the active roster for the game was more important than one extra wide receiver. 

    But the real story in this to me is how Underwood, at least publicly, reacted to what must have been the incredible disappointment after he learned his Super Bowl dreams were done. According to the ESPN.com report of the transaction, Underwood, after learning the news tweeted - 

    "Good Luck To The New England Organization, The Coaches, & All My Teammates. #PatsNation."

    And in a text message to ESPN reporter Ed Werder, Underwood said:

    "I don't want to be a distraction to the game or the New England Patriots.....i will say this, The New England Patriots are a GREAT Organization. I wish them nothing but the best today. This season has been dedicated to Myra Kraft (MHK) Mr Kraft's wife....w/ that being said i hope they pull out the victory in honor of her & because the coaches & players have worked so hard this season for the opportunity to play in Super Bowl 46. Go Pats!!!! #PatsNation"

    That is remarkably classy and mature coming from a guy just a few hours from running out on the field for the Super Bowl, the pinnacle event for his profession, and if he is like most other professional players, the culmination of a life long dream. Underwood may or may not have another chance to get into a Super Bowl, as it stands he is on the edge of even being an active player in the league, but I suspect the classy and professional way he handled this disappointment will help him immeasurably in the rest of his career.

    A team guy, a 'don't make this about me guy', a reminder to keep focused on the overall goals and mission of the team - that is the kind of guy you want on your team, no matter what your sport or business might be.

    Sure, the Patriots might have just shut the door on one of Underwood's dreams, but his actions and comments on the way out might have just opened up some new doors as well.

    Wednesday
    Jan182012

    Robot Toys and Team Building

    Note : From this point forward, I make no more apologies for posting about robots, sports, Jeff Van Gundy, nor any more empty promises to refrain or limit such posts. There, I feel better.

    Check out the video below, (email and RSS subscribers will have to click through), a demonstration of a new kind of robot-themed toy called Cubelets from Modrobotics. Cubelets are a modular robot building system, where each cube possesses different features and capabilities, and once combined, form a simple, functioning robot.

    Really neat idea right, and how about the spokesperson?

    Beyond being a clever idea for a flexible and adaptive building toy system, I think the design of the cubes themselves into three distinct archetypes - 'Action', 'Sense', and 'Think', also demonstrate a pretty insightful understanding of team dynamics, and more specifically, what kinds of diverse capabilities that have to be assembled and unified to some extent to achieve successful outcomes. 

    'Action' cubes do things and focus on outputs and come with names like 'Drive', 'Rotate', and 'Flashlight'

    'Sense' cubes pay attention to things and focus on inputs, with names like 'Temperature', 'Brightness', and 'Distance'

    Finally, 'Think' cubes perform simple logic functions like 'Maximum' and 'Passive'.

    If you check out the demonstration video, and can pay attention despite the lederhosen-wearing demo dude, you will see that the cube types are easily assembled to create simple toy robots. The key feature being that at least one cube of each type is needed to make a functioning robot. Adding more cubes, and varying their position and orientation allows the users to create more subtle and sophisticated toys, but the basic elements of 'Action', 'Sense', and 'Think', influence the outcomes.

    Remember, Action cubes do things, Sense cubes pay attention to things, and Think cubes do the math and handle the complex technical stuff. Thinking, doing, and processing the technology - the three important kinds of skills you need in any project I think.

    Oh wait, there is one more skill type I forgot, and there doesn't seem to be a Cube for - 'Creativity' or 'Insight' - essentially coming up with the right ideas in the first place, deciding what needs to be done, and the best way to do it. Figuring out if the robot should even be built in the first place. In the Cubelet toy set, there doesn't seem to be a cube that can do that.

    Because that's your job. For now anyway. 

    Until the robots figure out how to do that one too.

     

    Thursday
    Dec152011

    What Team Building Sometimes Reveals

    I apologize for pulling the Graph Jam card for the second week in a row, but when I saw this take on organizational team building, I could not resist:

    funny graphs - Now I Hate Everybody Even More
    see more Funny Graphs

    Funny, and probably with just enough of inherent truth in the cold assessment of what organizational team building often tells us about ourselves. No doubt at some point in your career you've been subjected to a trust fall or a ropes course or a 'Build a complex Lego kit while blindfolded' while Marge from Accounting shouts the instructions that have to be relayed via the new guy in IT that you aren't even sure actually works at the company since no one has ever seen him in the office before.

    Sure, team building usually kind of stinks, but is it really as awful as the Graph Jam point of view? 

    I admit I never really understood the classic Team Building approaches. I mean, I understand what they are attempting to do - to help the team get to know each other a little more, to open up the lines of communication in a less structured and more free setting, and to try and create some shared experience from which more effective teamwork can build. I do get that. 

    What I don't get is why anyone thinks trust falls or riding for an hour in a school bus (sort of like prisoners heading out to clean up the side of the highway), is the right or best way to accomplish those goals. But perhaps I am too cynical. Maybe.

    What do you think? Is there still (or has there ever been) any value in corporate Team Building events or exercises?

    Or do you fall more in line with the folks who say they'd be happy to work more effectively as a team, provided we get a whole bunch of better players?

    Friday
    Sep172010

    Quick - Send in the 'B' Team

    Last week there was a fantastic story in the world of sports, and one that most people, even the most ardent sports fans in the US probably missed.

    USA defeats Turkey to capture World Basketball Championship.KD

    I am not talking about the HR Capitalist, I know he was on top of the story.

    Take a look at some of the not-so-thinly veiled references to this collection of American players as the ‘second team’, ‘junior varsity’, or ‘guys who know their roles’.  

    Sure, this team lacked the star power and ability from more widely known performers like LeBron (who could not be bothered to take his talent to Turkey), Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant.  For the record, the recovering from injury Bryant gets a pass from me as he carried that Laker team to the NBA title this past spring.

    Heading in to the World Championship tournament there was a palpable air of concern from USA Basketball officials and fans that this ‘B’ Team would not be able to win the tournament, to re-confirm (at least temporarily), US dominance of international basketball, and perhaps most importantly, to secure the automatic qualification to the next Olympic competition in 2012.  One of the classic dilemmas the US has faced in International tournaments is the reluctance of many star NBA players to commit to the national team, that normally has to play in qualifying and World Championship tournaments in the summer, the ‘vacation’ season for the NBA.  Guys like Kobe have dragged themselves through 100 games or more from October - June, asking them to commit to two weeks playing in a rickety gym in Serbia in August is not that easy a sell.

    For this, and other reasons (primarily the LeBron free agent circus), the USA built a new team for the World Championships, consisting primarily of younger and emerging NBA stars, with a few more experienced, veteran players sprinkled in to the mix. But clearly, this team was perceived as not the USA’s ‘best’ team, just the best one that the country could manage.  While chock-full of talented players (and admittedly one ‘A’ player, the remarkable Kevin Durant), this group was certainly not assured a gold medal, the days of the US just trotting out any 5 NBA players and expecting to win on the International stage are long passed.  Plus, this tournament was to be played in Turkey, giving the hard-working, chain-smoking, flopping Turks a significant home court advantage.

    This team then, had several built-in excuses should they have failed to win.  They were after all, the ‘B’ team. They were mostly young, and had little experience in major international competition. No one was really paying attention back in the US.  The finals of the World Championship took place the first Sunday of the new NFL season. But with the inspiring play of Durant, the Lakers Lamar Odom, and contributions from many of the younger players, the US team won the tournament in impressive fashion. Based on this performance, Durant certainly, and some of the others potentially will crack the ‘A’ team roster for the 2012 Olympics.

    What does this all mean to the rest of us, and the real world of work?  

    Maybe nothing.

    But it could be a reminder that developing depth of talent sometimes requires sending in the ‘B’ team.
    Even in important, high pressure, and high stakes environments.

    Truth is, people know even if they don’t want to admit it, when they are on the ‘B’ team. In basketball the only way to make it to the ‘A’ team is to play your way in, you can’t do it just in practice, or in low stakes contests.  Want to see if any of your ‘B’ players have what it takes?  Then you just might have to put them in the game. 
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