Reflection 4: Putting the Team in Teamwork

This is my awesome d-Studio team. As you can see, we never really have any fun in the d-Studio.

We can all agree that being a student at the Sauder School of Business is a challenging role to play.  You’re expected to perform at a consistently high academic level, while participating in extra-curricular activities and grooming your resume for the inevitable post-graduation job hunt.  For the most part, each student expected this when they accepted the offer to attend Sauder.

However, as all Sauderites soon come to find out, the glossy brochures and the sleek website omitted what is, without a doubt, the hardest part about being in Sauder: finding a time for a team meeting.

You must think I’m kidding. I’ve never been more serious in my life.  The majority of conversations about when the next meeting should be go something like this: “Well, I’m free on Wednes—“ “Nope, I can’t do Wednesday at all, I have three job interviews and two papers due.  How about Thursday night at 9:30 when I’m done with my part-time job?” “Can’t do Thursday night, there’s one of the five case competitions I’m doing this semester that night.”

And on. And on. And on.  I’ve actually had to schedule a meeting for the sole purpose of finding a time to meet.  At this point, the most effective situation would be to outlaw sleep, so it would be socially acceptable to meet from 2 to 4 a.m.

Although it may seem like I’m anti-team, I’m not. I think that working in a team is hands down the best way of encouraging creativity, innovation, and unique idea generation.  Often, I find that when I am working alone on a project, I get stuck in what I like to call my “thought process rut”.  In these cases, I revert back to the way of thinking that is most comfortable to me-taking mental shortcuts to speed the process up, thinking linearly, and not challenging myself as much as I should.

On the other hand, when working in teams, you are constantly forced to adapt and innovate to both maintain the balance of the team and effectively contribute to the discussion.  I find that working with others, especially the amazing thinkers in Sauder, constantly motivates you to think in new ways, to come up with ideas that will provide a fresh perspective on the conversation.  No matter how wild of an idea you through out, you know your team will be receptive of it.  If it’s too crazy to actually be feasible, the team will work together to dig out the root of the idea and pare it down to something that could actually implement.  In that way, a team will both push you to think outside of your limits, while reining you back in to think inside the project’s limits.

Of course, the team I described above is an ideal team.  I have been lucky enough in my time at Sauder to consistently work on teams that are strong in commitment and trust, which is what Katzenbach and Smith consider the two critical aspects of effective teamwork.   Often times, team members will have clashing personalities, or be too preoccupied with other projects to effectively contribute to team meetings.  A great thing about the Sauder d-Studio is that it has provided me with the tools, like the Six Thinking Caps, to conquer these ineffective teams.

So, please allow me to amend my previous statement.  I love working in teams. I thrive while working in teams.  Working in teams should be mandatory for all projects that require creativity and innovation (under the condition that they extend daylight for an extra ten hours so we actually have time to meet).