The Thing About Teamwork

The thing about teamwork is, it's never easy. Anyone who tells you otherwise or who spouts stuff about "being able to work together effortlessly" is talking nonsense. Teamwork is NEVER easy. In fact, it's downright hard. We human beings are already an egotistical bunch as individuals - imagine taking three or four or more of those egos and throwing them in the same boat and telling them they have to get along without rocking the boat. They'd never make it.

Teamwork starts out easy. Most teams come into existence because a small group of people find that they work well together or they want to fulfill a certain project. But as time goes on, there will be fissures. People will disagree, fight, get sidetracked, lose commitment - it all happens occasionally. And then it's difficult to get the team working again because everyone's got an ego of some sort.

I have a team. I have several, as a matter of fact. One, however, has been giving me a lot of headache. We started out great, and we got something done...then we lost focus, commitment; we started arguing about things, then making up, only to argue again...and we're stubborn. Boy, are we stubborn. We each want our ideas in the project, and when the others object, we fight for our brainchildren. It's gotten so bad I fear for the group's future - or at least, my involvement in it.

The thing is, I try not to be too hardheaded. I know too much stubborness is detrimental to the team effort, so I really attempt to turn it down. But how do you know what's okay to give in to and what's important enough for you to fight doggedly for? That's the question - and it's damn tricky.

Lately, with this group, I've felt nothing but tiredness. Tiredness and despair. We fight, we make up, we avoid explosive issues, and then we fight again. And each time we repeat the process it's worse, and the team breaks a little more. So I initiated a last-ditch attempt to pull us out of the rut. I did my best to identify our problems and I told everyone in the group about it.

Unfortunately, now that makes me a hypocrite, because I've been just as remiss - if not more so than - the others in the group. Of everyone on the team, I've probably been the most negligent. But on the other hand, if I hadn't said anything and simply left it be for fear of being labeled a hypocrite, we might not fix this thing before it's too late. It's hard to explain. Yeah, I haven't been doing everything I preached to the others - but do I mean to do them in the future? Yes. I may be a hypocrite for saying what I said, but I'm a hypocrite who knows what she has to do to not be a hypocrite. I wish the others would be able to see that.