day 493: Teamwork, Part Three, Back-To-Back

I often write of the politics of the office and that while we should not engage in the politics, we need to be aware and cognizant of these happenings so that we are not blindsided or taken unaware. We have all experienced that moment when we are sitting at our desks wondering why someone who yesterday supported something that we were proposing or doing and then out of the blue, from left field, that person changes their position and we are left alone, now wondering what to do next. Pure and simple; politics have been played. That is why we hear so often, "I got your back on this one". If there were no politics and no one was gunning for someones job, position or assignments, then there wouldn't be any reason to have to cover someones back or watch out over them. But, that is human reality as it relates to work. So, without playing into the game, we can certainly secure ourselves and use teamwork to ensure that we are able to do our best without having someone else undermine our efforts. This is why we need to be good team members and learn to practice teamwork! Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:12; "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." Just as we need to have someone standing at our backs, there is someone else, or more than one person, at our job who needs someone to stand at their back today. Think through who is standing alone today and go and offer to support them, and assist them in what they are doing. At the same time you are giving to them, they will be giving to you and before you know it, you will be back-to-back or as the verse says, "triple-braided". To have one standing back-to-back to us, we have to do the same. Let's be the first to offer. This is what it means to practice teamwork.

Reference: Ecclesiastes 4:12 (New Living Testament)

day 491: Teamwork, Part 1, "1 + 1 = 3"

Over the next few days I want to spend some time on the power of teams and teamwork. It's obvious in many ways but there are some principles and applications that are always good to be reminded of now and then. In our jobs teamwork is often encouraged and some times incentives are established to promote teamwork, but when the rubber meets the road we can find ourselves flying solo to get the job done. Companies and organizations are paradoxical in this way. Organizations are structured into, by their own definitions, teams. A department, for example, could be a team. Committees are established to create teams of people working on or overseeing some piece of particular work. However, most people don't receive merit increases or their promotions because of the work of the team. They are rewarded instead on their singular contributions to the business. Paradoxical. So, teamwork has to be driven from the willingness and the acceptance that working with others can be more intrinsically, if not externally, rewarding than working alone. In Ecclesiastes 4:9 we can read; "Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor." Solomon is saying that 1 + 1 = 3. We should be be efficient with our energy and time. We should definitely multiple our efforts through working with others and being a strong team player. How much of the extra stress and burden that we feel in our jobs is just because we are trying to take on too much on our own and shoulder all the burden? Today, think about this and see if there is an area, a project, some work where you can get more done and get it done in a better way because you partner and be a team player.

Reference: Ecclesiastes 4:9 (New Living Testament)