Archive for dream team

Successful Teams: Take It from the Heat

Ball Four BasketballWork teams pose many challenges and many rewards. What is the secret to a successful team? Salter (2011) interviewed three members of the NBA’s Miami Heat: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The purpose of the interviews was to determine the attributes of a dream team, no matter the industry.  Among the findings:

1. Team members must make sacrifices, which may mean seeing “less of the basketball” (Salter, 2011, p. 82).  There is no place for solo stars on a dream team.

2. “Adversity is an asset” (Salter, 2011, p. 84). The rough times bring a team together. No team member wants a team to fail.

3. Try to resist second-guessing your team members. Be patient with each other and “beware the blame game” (Salter, 2011, p. 84).

Pryce-Jones (2010) concurs, suggesting that it is easy to for a team to focus on what is wrong.  The dream team, though, is the one that focuses on what is right.

References

Pryce-Jones, J. (2010). Happiness at work: Maximizing your psychological capital for success. West Sussex, England: Wiley-Blackwell.

Salter, C. (2011, May). The world’s greatest chemistry experiment. Fast Company, 155, 78-84.