Wisdom Of Teams

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The Wisdom of Teams While I was reflecting on the semester, two main components were brought to the forefront of my review. The first component is why teams are useful and their purpose both in the work environment and in the classroom setting. The second was that teams can be formed and developed in a multitude of ways. Both of these factors can be applied in unlimited ways to practically every “team-type” situation. The application of these lessons learned can be carried forward throughout the remainder of educational career and the duration of my work career. Our textbook, “The Wisdom of Teams”, states that teams are important for a lot of reasons, but if you boil it down the primary reason being that teams are “inextricably” linked to performance (Teams, 44) Delving deeper, one can begin to see why teams often create giant leaps in productivity. Personal experience has been that a team with a strong vision builds the initial connection that will lead to a “true” team. Once that connection is formed, the mystery that we defined as synergy in class takes over. This synergy takes all of the talents of the team and focuses the energy into a force that is greater than the sum of its part. When I worked as a volunteer after Hurricane Katrina, I was put into a group of strangers from all across the country. Although the situation was extreme, we bonded around the common purpose of providing rescue and supplies to various wards within the city of New Orleans. Within a few days, we worked as single unit and were keenly aware of what each team member was doing. We could finish each other’s sentences and we could provide supplies and back up almost instantly without prompting. We went from a random group of strangers to a high performance team focused on a common vision. The definition of a team is “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed

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