Living: the ultimate team sport

Teamwork: playing nice together

Posted on January 22, 2015 Updated on January 23, 2015

As a child, do you remember being admonished to “play nice together” with your siblings or friends?  Or perhaps you’re a grandparent who has encouraged your grandchildren to behave better with others by using that same phrase.  I like it, and I think playing nice together needs to be a part of our daily life strategy.

Teamwork was the key to the Seattle Seahawks NFC Championship game victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, January 18, 2015.  Those of us Seahawks fans who watched the game were kept at bay for more than three quarters of the game before we could entertain the possibility of a win.   The Seattle Seahawks earned a place at the 2015 Super Bowl game in overtime – an overtime that wasn’t considered possible until part way through the 4th quarter of the game.

One Seattle Times newspaper story  – and there were many – touted teamwork as being one of the keys to pulling off a victory that wiped out the 16 point deficit.  Coaches and players stated they could have never overcome that seemingly unbreachable chasm without the support of each member of the team.

Egos have no place on the field because the successful outcome of the game hinges on a collective effort.

Do you know where I’m going with this timely article?  Well sure, I’m boasting about my team making it to their 2nd Super Bowl in a row, but I’m also promoting teamwork in all other aspects of our lives.

None of us will ever practice the type of physical teamwork that was seen at Century Link Field in Seattle at the NFC Championship game, but all of us have the opportunity to apply that same concept to every aspect of our lives.  For example:

• intimate relationships require teamwork in order to be balanced, fair, and successful; and
• working partnerships – whether in the board room or on the construction site – are far more effective when personal agendas are minimized and team agendas are maximized.

Working in tandem is effective only when each person grabs a hold of the baton for their portion of the project.  In relay racing, one person doesn’t run the whole race, everyone does their part; no single effort is worth more than the other.  Back to the Seahawks analogy:

Why didn’t the separate egos of each Seahawks player win the game?  Because each player had something to offer that the other players didn’t possess; their combined efforts were equally responsible for the victory.

As I look towards the Super Bowl game on February 1, 2015, I’m counting on the Seahawks to play more nicely than the Patriots could ever hope to play.