The Human FactorTeam Building:
Beneficiary of the Past Dr. Mohan Chandra Lal (Faculty Member, IIPM Chennai) highlights how the present can learn from the past, when it comes to team building, in the first of a two-part series
Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell, once said that business is all about team building. A pool of talent in a team generates a spectrum of ideas to make better decisions in the organisation. At Dell, people work in teams to create more value for their customers. The hourly metrics displayed on the factory floor show how far their performances meet the company’s goals. A 360° performance appraisal and profit-sharing system keeps people busy on achieving their goals as a team. At Dell, teamwork is all about people who are interested in each other’s growth (ref: ICMR India).
Each individual has some strengths and weaknesses; hence, there is a need to form a team so that the collective strength and commitment will allow it to achieve a sustained high-level of performance. The Rig Vedic hymns extol the importance of team building
In Valmiki Ramayana, the hero of the epic, Rama built a task-oriented team and led it to conquer the King of Lanka, Ravana and his demonic forces, to rescue Sita, his consort, who was abducted by Ravana. Rama’s victory was the victory of his team.
Today, the success of the IT industry is due to the spectacular performance of its multi-disciplinary and cross-functional teams, powered by knowledge workers. Here, an attempt is made to take home the fact that team building has become the driving force of the present day IT industry; the way it was for Rama in Valmiki Ramayana. Team building has become the prime mover for many successful industries in India.
A team is a group of individuals with a complementary set of skills working together under a leader, with standards of excellence for a common objective. Katzenbach and Smith in their Wisdom of Teams (1993) point out that, while working, if all team players are “committed to a common purpose, goals and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”, and if they are deeply interested in one another’s personal growth and progress, it becomes a high-performing team (Team work In Practice: Pulling Together, by Alison Hardingham and Jenny Royal).
The last three hymns of the Rig Veda, in its 10th Mandala (ref: http://indigyan.blogspot.com) elucidate the fundamentals of team building for the progress of the society: sam gacchadhvam sam vadadhvam sam vo manaansi jaanataam |devaa bhaagam yathaa poorve sanjaanaanaa upaasati ||10.192.02 Let you all be united; let you all speak together clearly, conclusively and decisively; let your minds comprehend alike; let you all share the wealth like the Gods of the past accepted their portions of offerings.
samaano mantrah samitih samaanee samaanam manah saha citram esham | samaanam mantram abhi mantraye vah samaanena vo havisha juhomi II 10.192.03 Common be your prayers, common be the purpose of your assembly, common be the mind, so be their thought united. A common purpose do l place before you, and worship with your general oblation.
samaani va aakutih samaanaa hrdayaani vah | samaanam astu vo mano yathaa vah susahaasati || 10.192.04 Common be your intentions, common be the wishes of your heart. Let the commonness of your thoughts bring the co-operation of the highest order so that all attain the same goal and have peace and prosperity.
These hymns explain the basics of team building in lucid words, which have been repeatedly emphasised in various jargons, forms, and hues in the literature on team building for corporate success.
Larson and LaFasto identify compelling vision, fortified with standards of excellence, competency of the members, and their unified commitment in the climate of collaboration under principled leadership, result-driven structure, and external support, as the key features of a high-performing team (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com). These features provide an excellent chance for a team to deliver the goods. In the absence of one or more of them, there is a good chance that the team may go awry.
Team building is an uphill task. That is why the Vedic seers constantly reminded the people about the importance of team building for prosperity through many verses. Endowed with a myriad of talents, strong individuals prefer to work alone, or may function under compelling circumstances in a motley-defined federation of people working towards a common objective.
One of the reasons for the resistance is that team building calls for the sublimation of individual ego in favour of the greater good (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com). This task is more challenging for many corporate leaders. In team building, the team players have to be prepared to challenge assumptions, ask questions, refocus discussions, harmonise conflicts, and share information and ideas (Team Building: A Sourcebook Of Activities For Trainers, by Glenn M. Parker and Richard P. Kropp). Most leaders leave out this process-oriented learning, hoping that it will happen in due course on its own terms.
The process of team building has yet to undergo several transformations. The teammates must get to know each other as individuals and not as cogs in the system. The sooner this icebreaking happens, the greater are the chances that they will collaborate effectively during difficult times. Senior leaders must educate them about the compelling vision of the team so that they can own it by co-creating it with their teammates. Team leaders must motivate the high-fliers to play a pivotal role for each team value, so that, by the end of the team building process, they can make sure that their chosen values are lived by the team during the project and beyond it (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com)
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Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell, once said that business is all about team building. A pool of talent in a team generates a spectrum of ideas to make better decisions in the organisation. At Dell, people work in teams to create more value for their customers. The hourly metrics displayed on the factory floor show how far their performances meet the company’s goals. A 360° performance appraisal and profit-sharing system keeps people busy on achieving their goals as a team. At Dell, teamwork is all about people who are interested in each other’s growth (ref: ICMR India).
Each individual has some strengths and weaknesses; hence, there is a need to form a team so that the collective strength and commitment will allow it to achieve a sustained high-level of performance. The Rig Vedic hymns extol the importance of team building
In Valmiki Ramayana, the hero of the epic, Rama built a task-oriented team and led it to conquer the King of Lanka, Ravana and his demonic forces, to rescue Sita, his consort, who was abducted by Ravana. Rama’s victory was the victory of his team.
Today, the success of the IT industry is due to the spectacular performance of its multi-disciplinary and cross-functional teams, powered by knowledge workers. Here, an attempt is made to take home the fact that team building has become the driving force of the present day IT industry; the way it was for Rama in Valmiki Ramayana. Team building has become the prime mover for many successful industries in India.
A team is a group of individuals with a complementary set of skills working together under a leader, with standards of excellence for a common objective. Katzenbach and Smith in their Wisdom of Teams (1993) point out that, while working, if all team players are “committed to a common purpose, goals and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”, and if they are deeply interested in one another’s personal growth and progress, it becomes a high-performing team (Team work In Practice: Pulling Together, by Alison Hardingham and Jenny Royal).
The last three hymns of the Rig Veda, in its 10th Mandala (ref: http://indigyan.blogspot.com) elucidate the fundamentals of team building for the progress of the society: sam gacchadhvam sam vadadhvam sam vo manaansi jaanataam |devaa bhaagam yathaa poorve sanjaanaanaa upaasati ||10.192.02 Let you all be united; let you all speak together clearly, conclusively and decisively; let your minds comprehend alike; let you all share the wealth like the Gods of the past accepted their portions of offerings.
samaano mantrah samitih samaanee samaanam manah saha citram esham | samaanam mantram abhi mantraye vah samaanena vo havisha juhomi II 10.192.03 Common be your prayers, common be the purpose of your assembly, common be the mind, so be their thought united. A common purpose do l place before you, and worship with your general oblation.
samaani va aakutih samaanaa hrdayaani vah | samaanam astu vo mano yathaa vah susahaasati || 10.192.04 Common be your intentions, common be the wishes of your heart. Let the commonness of your thoughts bring the co-operation of the highest order so that all attain the same goal and have peace and prosperity.
These hymns explain the basics of team building in lucid words, which have been repeatedly emphasised in various jargons, forms, and hues in the literature on team building for corporate success.
Larson and LaFasto identify compelling vision, fortified with standards of excellence, competency of the members, and their unified commitment in the climate of collaboration under principled leadership, result-driven structure, and external support, as the key features of a high-performing team (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com). These features provide an excellent chance for a team to deliver the goods. In the absence of one or more of them, there is a good chance that the team may go awry.
Team building is an uphill task. That is why the Vedic seers constantly reminded the people about the importance of team building for prosperity through many verses. Endowed with a myriad of talents, strong individuals prefer to work alone, or may function under compelling circumstances in a motley-defined federation of people working towards a common objective.
One of the reasons for the resistance is that team building calls for the sublimation of individual ego in favour of the greater good (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com). This task is more challenging for many corporate leaders. In team building, the team players have to be prepared to challenge assumptions, ask questions, refocus discussions, harmonise conflicts, and share information and ideas (Team Building: A Sourcebook Of Activities For Trainers, by Glenn M. Parker and Richard P. Kropp). Most leaders leave out this process-oriented learning, hoping that it will happen in due course on its own terms.
The process of team building has yet to undergo several transformations. The teammates must get to know each other as individuals and not as cogs in the system. The sooner this icebreaking happens, the greater are the chances that they will collaborate effectively during difficult times. Senior leaders must educate them about the compelling vision of the team so that they can own it by co-creating it with their teammates. Team leaders must motivate the high-fliers to play a pivotal role for each team value, so that, by the end of the team building process, they can make sure that their chosen values are lived by the team during the project and beyond it (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com)
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The teammates must jointly work out a plan of action with standards of excellence that serve as benchmarks. This will enable them to clearly know their specific roles and responsibilities and the time of their commencement. These will avoid wheel-spinning, duplicative efforts, missed opportunities and erosion of trust (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com)
Experiential challenges inspire teammates to collaborate with each other beyond boundaries, and see how their traditional mindsets and old assumptions affect team functioning. This fresh blow of breeze works wonders when teams need innovative solutions for problems in hand. The sharing of the team leader’s responsibilities by some team members often prepares the latter to accept higher roles beyond the call of duty (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com).
When projects progress, disconnect and dissonance emerge between the team leader and team player. Such task-oriented conflicts of opinion on the right course of action promote productive discussion and leveraged performance (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com)
However, when the war of words ruins the morale of the team, divides people, and polarises groups, such issues must be resolved at the earliest; so that there will be greater trust, alignment, and communication in the team. The complexity of the task and the resultant conflict within a team while performing that task can have a combined positive bearing on the team’s performance (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com).
When there is lack of trust between team members, and when they are suspicious of each other’s motives, team meetings will become unproductive, leading to conflict and confusion on tasks. Unclear goals, loss of focus of objectives, faulty analysis, flawed policies, and poor time management can increase the chances of team failures (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com). Only through communication and reciprocal understanding can teammates overcome the functional walls that create team failures
Valmiki Ramayana (ref: Ramayana, by C. Rajagopalachari, and Valmiki Ramayanam, by V Jothi) shows how Rama beautifully built a high performing team to defeat his archrival Ravana, the King of Lanka. Executive charisma, assertiveness, networking, socialisation, and public relation characterised his leadership qualities. On the very day of his coronation, to honour the words of his parents, he left the kingdom without any regret for a fourteen-year forest life to make way for his brother Bharata to become the King of Ayodhya. He endured the suffering of the forest life with grace and equanimity and converted every threat into an opportunity to save the righteous people from the tyranny of the demonic forces
Rama, with his wisdom and expertise, effectively used the seven canons of conflict management for building a high-performing team (ref: http://krishnabhakt.blogspot.com). He used Sama (the art of persuasion) to win the friendship of Guha, the chieftain of the Sarayu forest, and Danda (the use of force) to destroy the demons in the forest, and save the sages and the law-abiding people. He used Bheda (the art of selective discrimination) and Danda to slay Vali and save Sugreeva for his team; and Dana (motivation through praise, reward, etc.) to bring Sugreeva and Vibhishana on his side against the demonic forces, and all the four canons to defeat Ravana.
he employed Upeksha (ignore/be indifferent to sinful people), Maya (the use of illusions) and Indrajala (faking strength) in war while dealing with demonic forces, without sacrificing Dharmic (righteous) principles. It is no wonder that his team members and leaders cultivated a fatherly affection for him.
Assertive leaders never belittle the importance of others. In the Sarayu forest, setting aside the protocol, Rama patiently waited for the arrival of Guha and then upon his arrival, endearingly introduced him to Lakshmana as his great friend and the King of the Sarayu forest, and not as a hunter chieftain. Impressed by his compelling modesty, Guha offered him sturdy boats to cross the rivers and reach Chitrakutam. He proactively cultivated a delightful friendship with Jatayu, the eagle king who later became the only source of information about the abduction of Sita by Ravana.
With great insight and wisdom, he outsourced the army operations against Ravana to Sugreeva and Jambavan. He believed that others’ needs are as important as his own and was aware that no one controls anyone else. He cultivated patience and used his power and authority sparingly. He promptly distributed all the credit to his team members without owning anything for himself. He walked the talk. Hence, his team leaders, with their armies, walked with him through thick and thin.
Rama entrusted the right job to the right people and carefully monitored them. He tutored Lakshmana to politely remind the complacent Sugreeva of his promise of searching for Sita’s whereabouts. Accordingly, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and others counselled Sugreeva and brought him back to work. Hanuman, at his bidding, flew over the ocean, creating hope and confidence in Sita and preaching to Ravana of his duties with great diplomacy. When the demons set his tail on fire, Hanuman put Lanka on flames and forewarned Ravana of the impending danger.
With his charisma, Rama transformed his army of monkeys and bears into a well-oiled fighting machine. While interacting with his leaders, he broke down barriers erected by titles, power, and position. He reached out to them, literally. Hence, he always evoked positive responses from his army and its leaders.
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Experiential challenges inspire teammates to collaborate with each other beyond boundaries, and see how their traditional mindsets and old assumptions affect team functioning. This fresh blow of breeze works wonders when teams need innovative solutions for problems in hand. The sharing of the team leader’s responsibilities by some team members often prepares the latter to accept higher roles beyond the call of duty (ref: http://www.ideachampions.com).
When projects progress, disconnect and dissonance emerge between the team leader and team player. Such task-oriented conflicts of opinion on the right course of action promote productive discussion and leveraged performance (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com)
However, when the war of words ruins the morale of the team, divides people, and polarises groups, such issues must be resolved at the earliest; so that there will be greater trust, alignment, and communication in the team. The complexity of the task and the resultant conflict within a team while performing that task can have a combined positive bearing on the team’s performance (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com).
When there is lack of trust between team members, and when they are suspicious of each other’s motives, team meetings will become unproductive, leading to conflict and confusion on tasks. Unclear goals, loss of focus of objectives, faulty analysis, flawed policies, and poor time management can increase the chances of team failures (ref: http://www.teambuildingportal.com). Only through communication and reciprocal understanding can teammates overcome the functional walls that create team failures
Valmiki Ramayana (ref: Ramayana, by C. Rajagopalachari, and Valmiki Ramayanam, by V Jothi) shows how Rama beautifully built a high performing team to defeat his archrival Ravana, the King of Lanka. Executive charisma, assertiveness, networking, socialisation, and public relation characterised his leadership qualities. On the very day of his coronation, to honour the words of his parents, he left the kingdom without any regret for a fourteen-year forest life to make way for his brother Bharata to become the King of Ayodhya. He endured the suffering of the forest life with grace and equanimity and converted every threat into an opportunity to save the righteous people from the tyranny of the demonic forces
Rama, with his wisdom and expertise, effectively used the seven canons of conflict management for building a high-performing team (ref: http://krishnabhakt.blogspot.com). He used Sama (the art of persuasion) to win the friendship of Guha, the chieftain of the Sarayu forest, and Danda (the use of force) to destroy the demons in the forest, and save the sages and the law-abiding people. He used Bheda (the art of selective discrimination) and Danda to slay Vali and save Sugreeva for his team; and Dana (motivation through praise, reward, etc.) to bring Sugreeva and Vibhishana on his side against the demonic forces, and all the four canons to defeat Ravana.
he employed Upeksha (ignore/be indifferent to sinful people), Maya (the use of illusions) and Indrajala (faking strength) in war while dealing with demonic forces, without sacrificing Dharmic (righteous) principles. It is no wonder that his team members and leaders cultivated a fatherly affection for him.
Assertive leaders never belittle the importance of others. In the Sarayu forest, setting aside the protocol, Rama patiently waited for the arrival of Guha and then upon his arrival, endearingly introduced him to Lakshmana as his great friend and the King of the Sarayu forest, and not as a hunter chieftain. Impressed by his compelling modesty, Guha offered him sturdy boats to cross the rivers and reach Chitrakutam. He proactively cultivated a delightful friendship with Jatayu, the eagle king who later became the only source of information about the abduction of Sita by Ravana.
With great insight and wisdom, he outsourced the army operations against Ravana to Sugreeva and Jambavan. He believed that others’ needs are as important as his own and was aware that no one controls anyone else. He cultivated patience and used his power and authority sparingly. He promptly distributed all the credit to his team members without owning anything for himself. He walked the talk. Hence, his team leaders, with their armies, walked with him through thick and thin.
Rama entrusted the right job to the right people and carefully monitored them. He tutored Lakshmana to politely remind the complacent Sugreeva of his promise of searching for Sita’s whereabouts. Accordingly, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and others counselled Sugreeva and brought him back to work. Hanuman, at his bidding, flew over the ocean, creating hope and confidence in Sita and preaching to Ravana of his duties with great diplomacy. When the demons set his tail on fire, Hanuman put Lanka on flames and forewarned Ravana of the impending danger.
With his charisma, Rama transformed his army of monkeys and bears into a well-oiled fighting machine. While interacting with his leaders, he broke down barriers erected by titles, power, and position. He reached out to them, literally. Hence, he always evoked positive responses from his army and its leaders.
.....................................
When Rama wanted to invade Lanka, his army, under the guidance of the architects Nala and Neela, immediately swung into action and constructed a bridge measuring 100 Yojanas (1Y=8 miles) in length and 10 Yojanas in width across the ocean in just five days. On the first day, the army completed 14 Yojanas of the bridge. Thrilled by the recognition and praise from their leaders, the army successfully completed 20 Yojanas on the second day. On the third and fourth days, the bridge grew by another 21 and 22 Yojanas respectively. On the fifth day, the bridge touched the seashore with an addition of 23 Yojanas. Even the celestial bodies appreciated the outstanding performance of the team (ref: http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=946462). Teamwork, devotion to cause, and sustained efforts powered by commitment to the objective created this miracle.
Rama was shrewd and smart while dealing with razor-edge issues. When he looked to his team leaders in a brainstorming session over the admission of Vibheeshana into his fold, everyone offered their views and felt happy that they were counted. Sugreeva and Jambavan suspected the integrity of Vibheeshana owing to his blood relation with Ravana. The less-experienced Angada was ambivalent. Sarabha and Mainda, the army generals, favoured spying on Vibheeshana for a few days before arriving at a decision. Hanuman welcomed Vibheeshana, who knew more about the mindset of the demons, Ravana’s fortifications, his magical prowess, his mystical weapons, his way of thinking, and the chinks in his army.
After giving a patient listening, when Rama expressed his conviction that he will never fail to protect those who surrendered to him, all concurred with their leader and Sugreeva brought Vibheeshana into Rama’s fold (ref: Google web research). Vibheeshana later went on to become a strategic asset to Rama’s team in countering the magical spell and mystical missiles of Ravana and his clans
Ramayana is all about team building. Rama used the infrastructure of the monkey-kingdom to defeat the all-powerful demons. Even under trying situations, Rama never violated the well-established norms and time-tested values. He was a role model for his team leaders and the army. His success was the success of his team.
Ramayana is all about team building. Rama used the infrastructure of the monkey-kingdom to defeat the all-powerful demons. Even under trying situations, Rama never violated the well-established norms and time-tested values. He was a role model for his team leaders and the army. His success was the success of his team.
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