Are You Really a Team?

When some missionaries in the Philippines set up a croquet game in their yard, several of their Agta neighbors became interested and wanted to join the fun. The missionaries explained the rules and started them out, each with a mallet and ball. As they progressed, the opportunity came for one player to knock another's ball out of play, but an explanation of procedure only puzzled him. "Why would I want to knock out his ball?" he asked.

"So you will be the one to win!" the missionary gushed. The short-statured man, clad only in a loincloth, shook his head in bewilderment.

The game continued, no one following the advice. When a player successfully got through all the wickets, his game wasn't over--;he went back and gave aid and advice to the others. As the final player moved toward the last wicket, the affair was a team effort, and finally, when the last wicket was played, the "team" shouted happily: "We won! We won!"

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You see, competition is generally untenable in a hunting and gathering society, where people survive not by competing but by sharing equally in every activity. Isn't that how the church, Christ's body, should be? We're a team; we all win together. Right alongside development of individuals in organizations, leaders also need to develop the health and depth of ministry teams.

The question that so easily follows, however, is: "How do we create great teams that actually function and deliver as they promise?" Bestselling author Patrick Lencioni has written exceptionally on this in Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. These are his words about the power and promise of teamwork:

As difficult as teamwork is to measure and achieve, its power cannot be denied. When people come together and set aside their individual needs for the good of the whole, they can accomplish what might have looked impossible on paper. They can do this by eliminating the politics and confusion that plague most organizations. As a result, they get more done in less time and with less cost. I think that's worth a lot of effort.

While altogether eliminating politics and confusion would be nice, most of us in churches or ministry organizations have experienced both the good and the bad with teams. When they're good, they're wonderfully effective, creating joy and blessing for all involved. When they're bad, they cause heartache, create distrust and ill will, and leave some folks wounded for years.

WHICH TEAM WOULD YOU ENJOY?

Let me tell you the tale of two teams, which I'll call Team One and Team Two. They're actually composites of good and bad teams I've experienced over the years.
The members of Team One had a glaring problem, obvious from the beginning: They had a hard time being the least bit vulnerable with each other. A few weeks after I joined, I asked one member, "Is it all right to be not okay on this team?"

"Sure, if you don't talk about it here. And if you go away somewhere, and deal with it quickly, so you can come back okay."

But sometimes we aren't okay. That we're human means we experience ups and downs, foibles and idiosyncrasies, weaknesses and sins. Shouldn't team members be able to acknowledge these with one another? Could we be ready to lift each other up when our not-okay-ness starts to get the best of us?

In Team One, the answer was no. Consequently, whenever real conflict needed to happen (and sometimes we really do need honest and direct confrontation in order to solve problems), it never did. One consultant observed members constantly cutting each other down outside meetings. The upshot was a total lack of commitment to the team. After all, why would people want to open themselves to the potential hurt of such a saber-swirling environment? Bottom line for Team One members: Make sure your own turf is protected and no one is blocking your personal objectives.

Accountability? No one would come through in a team effort, even though long lists of goals, with accompanying deadlines, filled the meeting minutes. Every time these goals were reviewed, new dates would be attached to push them further into the future. People worked at advancing their careers while caring little for teamwork. Turnover was constant. Futility reigned.

Now let's look at a refreshing contrast. Team Two comprised individuals who'd accepted each other in their differences, both strong points and shortcomings. Consequently, when they were together, they interacted openly and honestly. If there was a conflict issue brewing, it was raised in the group and dealt with; the accompanying feelings, whether anger, fear, hurt, or sadness, could be handled. The members seemed to sense that if they could work together in the midst of such emotions they'd be opening the floodgates to joy as well.

It wasn't important that any one person got his way; instead, all points of view were considered. After they hashed through their decisions, they'd set a direction that everyone could buy into because they'd committed to the greater vision rather than just their own personal piece of the pie. Accountability was easy because everyone focused on the same goals. The team's accomplishments were both individually and corporately outstanding. A typical comment that constantly emanated: "There's a lot of love flowing here."

Lencioni mentions in his introduction that team-building doesn't involve lots of complex ideas but rather firm commitment:

Teamwork is extremely hard to achieve. It can't be bought, and it can't be attained by hiring an intellectual giant from the world's best business school. It requires levels of courage and discipline--;and emotional energy--;that even the most driven executives don't always possess.

READY TO MAKE SOME PROGRESS?

Lencioni outlines a virtual road map to creating great teams. In the diagram below, you can see a definite progression toward that destination. Functional teams grow into being as they move toward the top of the pyramid; that is, as they eliminate the five dysfunctional obstacles.
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Excerpted from:
Christ-Based Leadership by David Stark (with Gary Wilde)
Copyright © 2006; ISBN 0764201417
Published by Bethany House Publishers
Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.

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