Martin Gregorie  wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:53:11 -0400, Mayayana wrote:
>
>> But it struck me that the idea of being a "team player"
>> (AKA willing to be a lackey who takes orders) has become an almost
>> universal euphemism in employment ads these days.
>>
> Maybe a euphemism, but its very different from what I understand by
> 'team'.
>
> So what do I understand by 'team'?  In most of the places I've worked
> since the late '70s, teams/groups/projects, call them what you will, had
> a boss but his job was primarily to stop intra-group squabbles and, much
> more rarely, to keep everybody heading for the same goal. In many of
> these, the boss was not the designer, but in all of them ideas and
> suggestions were encouraged by both boss and designer/design team and in
> none of then was a suggestion slapped down though it might be refused
> with reasons. That's what I understand by 'team work'.

I agree with that assessment with one addition:  the team leader (more
accurate than “boss”) also has the responsibility to provide “air
support”
to keep higher level management from disrupting the team’s operation. ;-)

I loved leading or participating in a real team, which, in my experience
requires some practice to achieve mutual respect, becoming a team.  The
most effective and delightful teams I’ve had the pleasure to participate in
or lead have been highly interdisciplinary, with 6-12 members.

I draw a strong contrast with a committee, which often resorts to voting to
make decisions.

Committees produce “lowest common denominator” designs, while teams achieve
creative, innovative designs that exhibit synergy across the several
disciplines of the participants.

The observation that “All of us are smarter than any of us” is definitely
applicable to a team.

I recall a Dilbert cartoon which stated that the IQ of a committee is
determined by dividing the IQ of the lowest IQ member by the number of
people on the committee. ;-)

--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II:  http://michaeljmahon.com

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