Recently I’ve been watching my son playing in several soccer games. During the most recent game, while I was sitting in my lawn chair, soaking in the beautiful weather and the light breeze, and thoroughly enjoying watching the boys kicking the soccer ball around, I all of a sudden had a lightbulb moment!

The lightbulb moment was a revelation about teamwork.

I must admit that this revelation is probably nothing new. I’m sure people have talked about it before for many years, but at that moment the revelation felt very fresh and crystal clear to me, like never before. Perhaps it will be helpful for me to explain it again in light of my own experience and the perspective I offer.

Here’s what happened:

My son plays soccer with a bunch of boys aged anywhere from 8 to 10 years old. So they are fairly inexperienced soccer players for the most part. There are a few boys that are much better than the rest, but the majority of them just try to kick the ball as hard as they can, when they can, and hopefully in the right direction. 🙂

The coach has been doing a good job teaching the boys on my son’s team. During the game, I can hear him yell out “spread out”, “get in position”, “move back”, “get after it”, etc, on a regular basis. He’s trying to remind them to do what he taught them during practice, and teach them how to react and respond during a real game. He’s basically trying to teach them both how to teamwork and play individually, so that they can win as a team.

Despite the coach’s valiant effort, the boys often times seem to forget all about what he has taught them, and they all run after the ball. No matter what position they are supposed to be in, they all run after the ball, or at least run towards it. So that means we will often see the boys clustering around the ball and everyone is trying to take a whack at it. As parents, it’s kind of adorable to see. But as a soccer fan who understands the art of the game, it’s kind of disappointing and irritating.

But, from the boys perspective, since they are so young and inexperienced, I imagine that they think the best and the most they can contribute to the team is to get closer to the ball and give it a good kick, so that’s why they all run after the ball and forget all about the positions they are supposed to be in and their teammates. Ultimately they forget about their strategy to win the game.

Isn’t that a good description of what often happens in real life in many teamwork situations?

We may not be young boys chasing after a soccer ball, but all of us like to chase easy targets that can be easily seen, and targets that offer quick rewards. We don’t like staying put in our strategic positions waiting for something to happen when we know we can find action elsewhere. When we all “abandon our posts” and forget about our overall teamwork strategy, we as individuals might get some instant satisfactions or kudos, but the entire team as a whole will suffer.

In the chaos of a live soccer game, it’s hard to keep a clear head and remember the overall strategy to win the game. In the same way, in the chaos of our real personal lives and juggling between many projects and contexts at work, it’s also hard to keep the strategic plan at the forefront of our mind. It’s very tempting to want to “chase the soccer ball” that everyone is staring at, and give it a “good kick”.

But we are no longer children. We are adults. One thing that differentiates us from children is that we have developed the ability to make an elaborate plan and see it through. (Or, at least I hope you have developed that ability). It’s powerful when we can do this as individuals, but it’s even more powerful when we can do this as a team.

So when we make a plan as a team, we do it strategically. We utilize everyone’s strengths and talents. We put people into positions that will provide maximum benefits to the team. In order to achieve success, we are counting on everyone on the team to “hold their positions on the field” and play their part. This is not rocket science, and I’m sure everyone on the team agrees to it, but executing this plan in real life is often easier said than done, as things often become chaotic and overly complex, and we tend to forget the plan. But sticking to the plan is often what differentiates a good team from a bad team, and ultimately determines success or failure.