A real person in a good team

Some people take the view that they will be lost in a team. And, to be fair, this can happen. There are bosses and there are teammates who want you to conform, to submit, to lose your identity. To a meaningful degree.

But in a real and good team, the opposite occurs. We each become able to become more of who we are.

We each can learn faster. We can be more honest. We can make mistakes and admit to them. We can learn faster from these mistakes. We can enjoy our colleagues, whom we come to know as more complete people.

Yes, there can be dysfunctions in a team. Some teams can learn their way from those dysfunctions. Some cannot.

So, we and Scrum are not in favor of collectivism, of people losing their identify. We are in favor of each person using his or her unique abilities to be creative. And struggling to find themselves within the context of the team. (Yes, one must face and deal with some compromises, which to the inexperienced or immature can seem really tough. May indeed be really tough sometimes. But unavoidable in our life as humans. 'No man is an island' it was once said.)

So, we are not talking about dysfunctional teams mainly. We are talking about good to great teams.

Perhaps most importantly, I get to contribute to the team making a great product that real customers will like (more). This is very satisfying.

So, it is funny how life can be more satisfying when you give to others. You get more for yourself when you are thinking mainly of others.

Now how are things for the so-called top performer?

Umm. Well, the good team should be able to recognize fairly the talents of all it's members. (But it won't happen every time.)

So, again, we cannot promise nirvana, but we think in good to great teams, even the top performer(s) can have a better life.

Some of this seems paradoxical to those who have been in bad situations. My sympathy to you. But do not lose the faith that some day you will see, in a good team, that it is true.

In my opinion, one of our deepest desires as humans is to be known for that person that we truly are, neither hiding nor boasting, both the good and the bad. It is a deep desire, and a good team can enable you to experience that in a far greater degree than we may have up to now. And it even happens while we are going real work. (ie, Not from some fluffy exercise from a consultant, not in some artificial way.)