Trigger Question #134:
Let’s begin with a nursery rhyme, this one from the mid-16th century, if not earlier:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Talking about fat, there is still a glut of advice, opinion, and seven-steps on teamwork. At least, that’s the case here in the Divided States of America, where we need teamwork more than ever.
These tips for teamwork are often conflicting, even as they aim to making teamwork “better”, whatever that means. Many teamwork gurus often conveniently discount a critical element of effective teamwork. That is, when they don’t openly pooh-pooh it.
This critical element is called diversity. Or us-and-them, depending on your outlook and personal agenda.
And yet, way back in the 16th century, if not much earlier, people knew that opposites on teams matter. Hence the celebration of what Jack Sprat and his wife could achieve “between them both.” If only easier dish washing.
What’s happened to us? When did we-all-sorts succumb to in-my-image? How did otherness morph into sameness? Why did devil’s advocate capitulate to groupthink?
I am tempted to blame schools and universities. If you were good at math but poor at languages, teachers stopped you teaming up with a kid poor in math but good in languages. The message was clear. You may not join forces with your “opposite” so that together (i.e. as a team) you could both improve your individual grades.
Today, we still discourage diversity. Why? Because uniformity is easier to manage. Because diversity is discomforting, hence inconvenient.
And yet, what does the Real World expect of us? Teamwork! So that we can enjoy the benefits of licking the platter clean.
But you don’t know how to do that. You don’t know how to build trust with aliens because you have never needed to. And you wonder why you should bother, because, clearly, even your boss still finds uniformity easier to manage.
So now you take the easy way. You team up with people who look like you, speak like you, think like you, behave like you. People who are shaped like you, tinted like you, smell like you.
People who, between them all, never lick the platter clean. And you call that teamwork.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .