Over the next few days I want to spend some time on the power of teams and teamwork. It’s obvious in many ways but there are some principles and applications that are always good to be reminded of now and then. In our jobs teamwork is often encouraged and some times incentives are established to promote teamwork, but when the rubber meets the road we can find ourselves flying solo to get the job done. Companies and organizations are paradoxical in this way. Organizations are structured into, by their own definitions, teams. A department, for example, could be a team. Committees are established to create teams of people working on or overseeing some piece of particular work. However, most people don’t receive merit increases or their promotions because of the work of the team. They are rewarded instead on their singular contributions to the business. Paradoxical. So, teamwork has to be driven from the willingness and the acceptance that working with others can be more intrinsically, if not externally, rewarding than working alone. In Ecclesiastes 4:9 we can read; “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.” Solomon is saying that 1 + 1 = 3. We should be be efficient with our energy and time. We should definitely multiple our efforts through working with others and being a strong team player. How much of the extra stress and burden that we feel in our jobs is just because we are trying to take on too much on our own and shoulder all the burden? Today, think about this and see if there is an area, a project, some work where you can get more done and get it done in a better way because you partner and be a team player.

Reference: Ecclesiastes 4:9 (New Living Testament)