How Teamwork Is Supposed To Work In Real Life

 

 

A team is a temporary group with the same goals. Whether it’s sports, school, work, or family, it’s important to know how teamwork is supposed to work.

 

The biggest element of teamwork is cooperation, which is in shorter supply than most expect.

 

For example, in the armed forces all entities compete for the same goal. Protecting the country is the common goal, but the real operators work toward money, as in budget, as in collecting enough money to sustain the current level of operations.

 

With the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the minor league services looking for their grab at the silver ring, not everything goes fairly. How tilted is the playing field? When a sitting president needs butt kissers, and one service volunteers to step forward?

 

Not so good.

 

What happens when someone in a leadership position disagrees with lip placement?

 

They retire, or get retired.

 

The same thing happens when the big guys, generals who’ve been schooled in things military, go all in with a defective president? There’s no training for that, just motives.

 

Sports are another slice of the same pie.

 

No general in the history of money will ever make more than an NFL star. Add a few generals with their version of teamwork, throw in a few admirals, and they still lag behind at the bank.

 

Sports on television show groups of women and men working together for a win, or at the very least a good loss if there’s such a thing. We all watch and admire favorite teams when they win, and blame them as bums when they lose.

 

Unless you’re a Dallas Cowboy fan, then tunnel vision is part of the deal.

 

Wouldn’t you think professional athletes who pull a ton of money, pay a load of taxes, would be great teammates for all Americans? Looking at you Eagle Chris Long, son of Raider Howie Long, who says he donated a year of game checks to charity. From a distance he could be man-crushable.

 

At least I like him.

 

As long as we’re talking Eagles, they were just un-invited to the White House to celebrate their place in teamwork history after scooping up last season’s Super Bowl. But like the armed forces, the Eagles have different takes on teamwork.

 

Some players weren’t showing and said so; some were, but not now. Is this bad teamwork, or good? The good side says go with the flow, the tradition, the custom. The bad side says enough is enough. Whoever says enough to a good thing? Maybe a White House visit wasn’t a good thing?

 

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Teamwork in school turns into school pride and the best example in America is the school pride in the Southeastern Conference. For example:

 

I was in Safeway pulling stuff off the shelves and into my basket when I looked up and saw another man staring at me in my Oregon Ducks t-shirt. Since I attended Oregon and both kids graduated as Ducks, that’s my school pride.

 

The man wore a UW jacket, hat, carried a Washington umbrella, and stood there staring at me. I didn’t run off, I was just going the other direction, but we crossed paths again. He sniffed me out.

 

This time he started talking about a calendar date, the UW v UofO game. Then he started hyping his team. This skinny old man with a chip on his shoulder and a chirp in his voice kept going on and on, proving huck the fuskies aren’t just pretty words to share.

 

The guy was in my state, my town, my Safeway, my face, and he’s talking dog sh!t like it’s going out of style. I took the process stand of, “We’ll just have to see,” and, “You’re a good fan.”

 

How would this play out in Alabama if this had been a Tide guy and Tiger from Auburn, LSU, Clemson, or anyone talking anything but ‘bama. I like to think the police would have been involved. But this is PAC12 country and we don’t throw cans of chili in the supermarket.

 

We share fandom, but it only goes so far.

 

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Teammates at work get divided down one line, and it isn’t hourly v wage, management v warehouse, or shirt and tie v flannel.

 

One side works for the company, the other side uses the company as a stepping stone to the next job. For now everyone’s a teammate, but if conflict arises the knives come out and the backstabbing begins.

 

But up until the first firing everyone’s a friend, and who doesn’t like friends.

 

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The foundation blocks of teamwork, every team, every agency, every school and business? Family. Ma, Pa, Little Joe, and Sister Suzy. They all pull on the same side of the rope.

 

What happens, though, when Suzy starts dating the wrong boy, or Joe hangs with the wrong crowd?

 

Ma and Pa break out the teamwork glue and stick to them.

 

And if Pa shuts down goes mental? If Ma starts staying out late with new ‘friends?’

 

It weakens the foundation of teamwork when faulty leaders cover up, lay blame, and put on their happy face.

 

That sort of happy face shows up on a president in over his head, a coach out of touch with his team, a boss gathering evidence instead of giving direction, and fearful parents who thinks they’re the only person in the world with their problems.

 

Welcome to the team, pardner.