The Power of a Shared Goal in a Team
Why is it that as a society we have become so advanced in business, technology, communications, and production, yet we still struggle to work together in a team setting?
We can talk to each other, practically for free, from across the globe in a live video call from a handheld device. I could only dream of something like this back in 1995, when I was a first-year international college student and could only afford to call my parents overseas once a month for 2-3 minutes at a time because a minute cost $1.20, which was expensive for me at the time.
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”
~ Babe Ruth (American professional baseball player)
Modern Tools, Ancient Problems
In business, we have sophisticated project management tools and all kinds of software to make our jobs easier and help us be more productive. Recently, AI has catapulted us into a level of productivity we had not known before.
Yet again and again, I see repeating patterns in the workplace: teams and leaders struggle to align and make decisions; team members struggle to work cohesively; communication breaks down; misunderstandings occur; miscommunication persists; confusion, tension, and emotions rise; egos and differing agendas get in the way; and ultimately, the company operates in some form of chaos and disorganization. Everyone is busy, but real outcomes are far and few between.
“Individual commitment to a group effort-that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
~ Vince Lombardi (Legendary NFL coach)
The Elusive Challenge of Shared Goals and Team Alignment
We have mastered all kinds of challenges—technological, scientific, psychological—yet this one thing remains elusive in the business world: the ability to row in the same direction in a unified fashion and in synchrony. In team sports, the best teams possess both skills and the ability to work together. Still, in business, this seems to be a harder achievement.
This is a deep subject that can be explored from many angles, and many factors play a role. However, in my experience, a major reason for the inability to overcome this challenge is the lack of a shared goal.
“Set goals – high goals for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working for a common good.”
~ Bear Bryant (American college football player and coach)
Shared Goals in Team Sports
Consider a football, soccer, or basketball game. The goal is very clear and understood by everyone: to score more points than the opposing team. It is straightforward, and when the players step onto the field, no one is confused about what success looks like.
The second aspect is that everybody wins or loses together. Can you imagine a scenario in a basketball game where only the stronger players on a team won, and the rest lost? The idea is beyond laughable. Yet in the business world, we sometimes act as if this is possible. In team sports, the whole team ends up in the same place at the end of the game. The entire team either won or lost. There is no split among them.
“Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team.”
~ Mike Krzyzewski (American former college basketball coach)
Lessons from Nature: Importance of a Shared Goal in a Team
Let’s go down a level and into the animal kingdom. I say “down a level” because animals do not possess the same level of intelligence and communication as humans. Nevertheless, we see examples of what happens when a group of animals acts as a team with a shared goal, where they all win or lose together.
This idea first struck me many years ago when, in 2006, the BBC Natural History Unit released the nature documentary series Planet Earth. To this day, I vividly remember a particular scene of a wild dog hunt in Africa. The production crew captured the action with groundbreaking technology, positioning cameras not only from different angles on the ground but also from the air for a top-down view. An action-packed drama that lasted only a few minutes was portrayed to the viewers with amazing detail and proximity.
The dogs had spotted a herd of gazelles peacefully grazing in a grass field, surrounded by trees and bushes. The dogs had a strategy. A small group of them approached from the back to spook the herd and create chaos, while a larger group attacked from the front. This larger group split into three smaller groups halfway through the run: one would hit the herd head-on, while the other two would attack from each side.
To make a long description short, the dogs were successful, and they made a catch. What was their goal? To catch prey—simple and straightforward. If there is no catch, there is no dinner, and everyone goes hungry. There was no bickering, no butting heads, no egos arguing over who should lead which group of the attack, etc. everyone knew what to do and quietly executed.
“It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”
~ John Wooden (Legendary UCLA basketball coach)
Takeaways: Aligning Business Teams with Shared Goals
I have thought about this scene many times since, when faced with various challenges in the business world, and I’ve wondered about the lessons. To me, they are simple and clear:
- The team has a shared goal, and they win or lose together.
- They have a strategy to execute the goal.
- Everyone understands the goal, the strategy, and their individual role during execution.
Is your tech company struggling to create shared goals and align cross-functionally?
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Shared Team Goals for Business Success
What if we applied these principles to the business world? Many do, but in my observation, a larger number do not. It is hard, because in business, it is not as simple as: catch a gazelle and eat, miss and stay hungry. Or, score more points than the other team and win, score fewer and lose. In business, the goals can shift as the market changes, and they are often unclear when the company is young. Therefore, it is not a one-to-one comparison.
Nevertheless, to help our teams work better together, leaders can work hard to regularly:
- Create and communicate a shared goal
- Build a focused strategy that points to that goal
- Ensure everyone is clear on their individual roles and the roles of their teammates during execution
The Hard Work of Leadership
I realize that this is much easier to write down than to do in reality. However, as leaders, we cannot ignore these concepts and expect our teams to work at their best together. We have to be intentional and constantly put effort into unifying our teams around shared goals that will help all the team members row in the same direction.
“The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison.”
~ James Cash Penney (Founder of JCPenney stores)