Teamwork

This morning I had an interesting conversation with a man from Ecuador who lives in the U.S. Like most of the world, he sees the U.S. as a land of opportunity. (Which, of course, it still is in many ways.)

But, the man I spoke to, like many people, thinks that the way to success is to be a "lone ranger". He pointed out many examples: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, etc.

I think he needs to take another look at history. None of those men made their great accomplishments alone.

We know their names because they created and led great teams. Had any of them tried to go it alone, we would not remember them. Someone else would have led the teams that built the empires of their industries.

I was born the same year as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Jobs started working for Atari when he was 19. Gates was 20 when he founded Microsoft. (I didn't own a computer until I was 25...which was still before the IBM PC existed.)

To be sure, Jobs and Gates were geniuses. But, they weren't alone. They may not even have been the brightest or the best programmers. But, both did something that most of their contemporaries did not do: They built teams to turn their visions into reality.

If Bill Gates had tried to build Microsoft alone, you and I would never have heard of either him or his company. Someone else would have developed the PC operating system.

Ditto for Jobs.

His Apple ][ (yes, that is the correct "spelling"), introduced in 1977, was the second "microcomputer". Commodore's PET arrived five months earlier, and Radio Shack's TRS-80 was released a month after the Apple ][. Two years later, you could buy an Atari 400/800. In 1981, IBM introduced the PC. From 1982 until 1994, 17 million Commodore 64s sold.

So, Jobs had a lot of competition.

But today you basically have two choices: PC or Mac.

If Steve Jobs hadn't been a team player, there would be no Mac.

Habits 1 - 3 of Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are all about becoming independent. Habits 4 - 6 are about interdependence.

You cannot be very good at interdependence until you have learned to be independent.

Independence is necessary if you want to be effective. But, you cannot be highly effective without interdependence.

A person who is independent but not interdependent is a "lone ranger". He might be very good at what he does. But, he will always measure his success by comparing it to the success of others. He may have a very satisfying career, but he limits himself to what he can accomplish alone. He will never create a "Microsoft" or an "Apple Computer". Or a "United States of America". His interests will pretty much begin and end with himself. He will view those who accomplish less as "losers", and those who accomplish more as "lucky".

The same "team" attitude that builds strong businesses is also necessary for other successful organizations (including marriages and families).

Just as a "lone ranger" might have a career that satisfies him, he might also enjoy a long association with family, friends, and other associates.

But, the relationships of an independent person can never match those of the interdependent.

I see "lone rangers" all around me. They're not bad people to be around. Some have had fairly successful lives. But, they're not team players.

They will never be highly effective.