Cohesion - Six Patterns for Building an Effective Team Culture

Author: Li Guoning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: After graduating from university, I was assigned to a government agency. During my three years of work, I experienced training in joining and building teams. Through these trainings, I came to understand a very great and wise saying: There are no perfect individuals, only perfect teams! I believe most companies are proving the correctness of this statement. They also deeply understand: Customers are the source of problems, and companies are the ones who research and solve them. It's like an exam—customers are the teachers setting the questions, and companies are the students answering. Only those who answer quickly and well can catch the teacher's attention. And all of this relies on teamwork. The maximization of individual wisdom cannot permanently withstand the collective wisdom. Therefore, we need teams.
Below, let’s look at a story about teamwork. This story is about how geese migrate from the cold northern hemisphere to the warm southern hemisphere every autumn. However, the journey from north to south is over 20,000 kilometers long, and along the way, the geese face various challenges that are difficult to overcome. Few other migratory birds can fly back successfully like the geese do. Why are geese so successful in flying across thousands of mountains and rivers? In fact, a single goose would find it very difficult to fly back to the southern hemisphere. Compared to other migratory birds, geese are physiologically inferior. But how do they reach their destination? It turns out that geese achieve this through collective action. When flying in the sky, the goose at the front bears a lot of air resistance, while the geese behind them arrange themselves in a "V" shape to greatly reduce air resistance and conserve energy. After some time, the leading goose moves to the back, and another goose takes over to lead the flight. In this way, the geese save energy through alternating leadership and fly together toward their destination. At night, when resting, the geese take turns keeping watch, ensuring everyone gets a safe rest.
What can we learn from this story? The lesson from this story is that geese overcome all natural difficulties through teamwork. The only way for a single drop of water not to dry up is to merge into the ocean. When weak individuals unite, they become a powerful force. Therefore, in an organizational setting, we must recognize that life is a process of pruning branches and growing toward the main stem! Everything takes time, and team building is no exception. Over the years, our company has survived and thrived in fierce market competition, which is inseparable from our spirit of unity and collaboration—or team cohesion.
We know that modern young people often display arrogance and self-importance in the workplace, making it slow and difficult for them to adapt to work environments. They lack teamwork spirit, doing projects alone and unwilling to brainstorm with colleagues. As a result, everyone produces different outcomes, ultimately being of little use to the company. In fact, the success of an individual is not true success; the success of a team is the greatest success. For every working professional, virtues such as humility, confidence, integrity, good communication skills, and teamwork are very important. Teamwork is crucial for the development of a company and an individual’s career.