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The sum of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I think I must have heard that quote a million times over my many years of playing sports. Never has that cliché been more true than this summers’ Olympics games. Two American teams immediately come to mind when thinking of the 2008 Olympics. The first is the USA Men’s Basketball team. Never has a team been under more pressure than this one. The men’s Olympics basketball teams have slowly been losing their ‘invincible’ status since the 2000 Olympic games. In that year, the U.S. team won the semi-final game by only two points and the Gold medal game by just ten points. The following eight years have provided the U.S. with multiple defeats and embarrassment. Let’s examine some key components using this example, and others, to find out exactly how teamwork works. 

The Ability to Mesh

In searching for a reason why the USA basketball team declined, the answer lies in the word team. While the other countries across the world were fielding teams that had been playing together for years, we were sending players at random and expecting our athleticism to just win gold medals. After the recent debacles of the prior teams, U.S. officials decided to change their philosophy. Instead of just picking up some good NBA players, they built a TEAM!!! The team would play together for three years prior to the 2008 games in order to build cohesiveness. This meant leaving off some superstars to add some role players. With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade as star power, the U.S. added a great supporting cast featuring Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. The outcome of these strategic moves produced the ‘Redeem Team’ and an Olympic Gold Medal.

We Are All on the Same Team

If the ‘Redeem Team’ was the biggest team story going into the summer games then Michael Phelps had to be the biggest individual story. Michael Phelps went to Beijing with the goal of becoming the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Game. The obstacle in this was that Phelps was not even in control of his own fate. Reporters speculated that the only way he would fall short of this feat was if his teammates let him down in one of his relay races. The funny thing about being a team is that every person on the team needs every other person on the team in order to succeed. When Phelps finished his portion of the 4x100 relay race he was losing. The dream had ended and his quest for 8 gold medals had slipped away. Luckily for Phelps someone forgot to tell his teammate, Jason Lezak. Lezak, a 32-year old swimmer who had been widely criticized for past Olympic failures, jumped into the pool well behind in the race, but he refused to quit.
Although he would not get two nickels of the one million dollars that Michael Phelps would receive if they won the gold, he pressed on anyway. Lezak gave it everything he had while Phelps and the rest of the team cheered from the background. With absolutely nothing to lose if he would have given a mediocre effort and lost, Lezak thought of the team first and became an intricate piece of history.

One Teammates’ Weakness Is Another Teammates’ Strength

The Olympics proved that comprising a team is much more than putting some people together that have the same talents. It is actually the contrary. One of the most important characteristics of a good team is having people that complement each other. It is often said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the current presidential election race Democratic nominee Barack Obama had been heavily criticized for his lack of foreign policy experience. In his selection of a running mate, Senator Obama chose the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Joe Biden. Sen. Biden’s strengths (foreign policy, age, political background) are exactly the same factors that were described as Sen. Obama’s weaknesses. Good teammates truly make each other better.  Regardless of whether or not Sen. Obama wins the presidential election in November, he has put together the best possible team.

Working Together

The display of good or bad teamwork is never more evident than in a family. In  today’s generation, where the woman of the home works just as much as the man, having an effective teamwork system has never been more important. The ability to communicate within the household is a huge part of teamwork. When my two daughters’ were born within  a year of each other, I quickly found out  how to become a team player. There is nothing like an overworked woman that had given birth to not one, but two children left to care for all the work around the home. It is easy for men to get lost in the ‘traditional’ way of doing things and allowing the woman to take care of all the things around the house. I realized that I could no longer do things the ‘traditional’ way, but that I had to become a team player and do my share with my wife in order to achieve a successful household. That being said, it is easy to see how imperative family communication and
working together truly is.

Be Selfless for the Team

In Chapter 2 of Mark, a group of friends are faced with a situation. These friends heard that Jesus was preaching in a nearby house so they decided to take their sick friend in hopes that he would be healed. 

When they arrived they attempted to make their way to Jesus but they could not get through the crowd. Instead of giving up, this team of friends came up with a plan. If they could not make it to Jesus through the door, they would lower their friend into the house through an opening in the roof. When Jesus saw their perseverance and faith he cured the sick friend. The selflessness of the team turned out to be the key to the healing of their sick friend. In verse 9, Jesus says, “Take up thy bed and walk,” but none of that could have occurred without the efforts of the team.

Defer to the Team Leader When Needed

The book of Matthew is the opening Chapter of the New Testament in the Bible and it immediately teaches a very valuable lesson. In Chapter 14 Jesus performs the miracle of feeding the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish. Following the miracle, He sends the disciples away in a boat and they encounter a storm while at sea. Jesus then appears walking on the water toward them. Peter was on that boat and uttered “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” So Jesus allows Peter to walk on the water. When the wind blew heavy, a scared Peter calls for Jesus to save him and he does. Peter started by challenging the leader of his team and ended up needing him to save him. It is important to follow the chain of command. Every team has a leader!

No ‘ME’ First Players on the Team

Finally, the biggest obstacle for any team are the ‘team killers.’ We all know exactly who the team killers are in our lives and most often they are very close to us. They say that they want us to do well, but secretly they await our downfall. When I played baseball at age eight our coach would always say, “there is no I in the word team”. When I got older I realized that while ‘there is no I in the word team’ the letters M and E are very present. Once you spot a ‘ME’ individual on your team it is imperative that you do not let the ME attitude impact you or the other members of the team.

Teamwork works as long as you allow it.
Psalm 124:8
Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.