Building Championship Teams: Turn Talent into a Competitive Advantage

“Players don’t win championships. Organizations win championships,” announced General Manager Jerry Krause in 1998 after Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls won their 6th NBA championship in 8 seasons. In proving his point, Mr. Krause never returned to a championship game.

True, talent alone rarely wins championships; rarer still is an organization that can win without it.

History has shown that success results from a combination of both organization and talent, the primary role of successful organizations being traditionally the administration of teamwork.

However in today’s knowledge-based society, Ford’s assembly-line style of teamwork has begun to take a back seat to what probably gave Jordan’s and coach Phil Jackson’s team that unique competitive advantage, team learning.

Team Learning is the ability to pool resources in order to raise individual contributions producing results far greater than the sum of the original parts. Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson were great at getting the most of their lesser players. Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson were not.

Establishing team learning was brought to light while working with a group of managers in an Italian Corporation.

During a consulting session I posed a complex question to one of the managers. She looked at me wide-eyed and uttered a non-verbal, “boh!”

Not being fluent in Italian gestures, I assumed the gaseous noise was an unintentional result of a lunch-time Lambrusco so I ignored it and asked again. And again this professional shrugged her shoulders, looked blankly and blurted “boh!”

It was explained to me that “boh!” was an Italian gesture meaning, “I don’t know.” Since then I recognized it often and each time with the same expression.

So, according to the culture, it was not enough to admit to not know. It needed to be accompanied with a bodily noise that exaggerated ignorance, and an expression which exuded humility.

But it was much more than simple cultural humor. There was freedom in the “boh!” that actually set the tone for better cooperation.

A strong gesticular “boh!” frees one of hindering pride, allows the admittance of a lack of knowledge and therefore puts one in an incredible position to learn.

The half-second gesture establishes the catalyst which is key to all forms of personal and group development, humility. Contrary to popular belief, humbleness shows itself in strength of character not in weakness

There are many successful people who are so because they have accepted their own limits to be empowered from the strength of others.

My high school coach, recently inducted into the hall of fame, would always admit that the strength of his teams rested in the ability to surround himself with people much better than himself.

Creating the dynamics that fosters team learning begins when members individually aspire to learn, share what they've learned with other members, and recognize and respect the value of others.

Regardless if involved in business, education, politics, sports, or even personal relationships, whether working within a team or alone, competitiveness and opportunities rise when destructive pride, jealousy, and cynicism are replaced not by being only willing to cooperate, but by opening ourselves up to what each other has to offer.

What wins championships? Teams win championships. It can begin with a simple humbling yet empowering “boh!”