Teamwork is hard

There are times when teamwork is easy.

Teamwork is easy when all team members are aligned and share a common view of the outcome they’re trying to achieve.

But much of the time, teamwork is hard.

When teams don’t share a common view of success, team members start focusing on and working on competing problems. Egos emerge. And individual point of views take priority.

If you want teamwork to be easy, you must get everyone to share a common view of the outcome they’re trying to achieve. You must get everyone aligned.

Achieving alignment requires trust, time, and constructive conflict. It also requires shared ownership of success.

If team members don’t generate trust, teamwork will be hard.

If team members don’t invest time, teamwork will be hard.

If team members don’t seek constructive conflict, teamwork will be hard.

If team members don’t achieve a common view of success, teamwork will be hard.

Some teams never come together. But when they do, it’s an amazing experience, win or lose.