Every Point Counts

Every Point Counts
Remember when you were younger and you would go to the park to play and some kind of game would start. Whether it was baseball, basketball, or dodge ball, teams would have to be selected. Based on group consensus or ownership of the ball or ability to bully whatever – two players would take the role of captains and select teams. One at a time they would point and say a name and those called would form two opposing sides. Sometimes there would be just the right number of players so that even if you were named last, you would still play. The more troubling scenario occurred when there was only room for so many to play and the rest were left out to sit and watch.

For children, the dynamics of team selection tend to be random – sometimes it was fair and sometimes not. After a while everybody knew everyone else’s talent level and thus the entire game could be played out mentally with the victor predicted even before the first pitch. Some kids however never got the chance to play; despite screaming “pick me, pick me” a few, and we know who they are, were never selected. Some reasons for this include having no coordination, no friends in the group or not having an older sibling that had a parental mandate to let their little brother or sister play.

As we get older we come to learn that team selection is still a significant part of life and something that can have a huge impact on our own personal success. I say this as a reminder that the world is still competitive and people take sides and join teams. They might not call it a team, it could be a company or and organization or group of some kind. The selection process although being “grown-up” may not be based on physical coordination but business acumen and ability to multi-task as well as friends and family can determine who selects you for their team.

As I think about all of the various teams and scenarios I’ve been a part of, I marvel at the dynamics of each individual on a team and recall the axiom that a chain (team if you will) is only as strong as the weakest link. Thus it is the individual effort that often is the deciding point in determining victory or not. Last week I played in a basketball game in which we won in the last 1 second, by just one point. Who is to say which one point of the 50 or so we had was the most significant. The fact is that we needed each and every point to win and such is the nature of teams.

I tell my sons and myself and the people that I work with how important they are to making the team successful. Sometimes even inanimate objects make a difference: like the flow of green lights letting you speed as you race to deliver something on deadline when it’s finally delivered, it’s attributed to a joint effort including the traffic lights, the driver and all of the others that created the package that was delivered.

Regardless of what type of team you are on, ask yourself how they would be without you and whatever answer you give will be right. That’s because belonging also takes a commitment on your part as well as theirs and it answers why they need you and why you need them back.

Tonight as I write this I am missing a basketball game where I know that my contribution is needed and yet my absence gives others more time to play. I’m sure they will do well without me but I secretly hope not too well.
Gary

From the Book of Szen
First Published November 2006