Moore’s Law essentially suggested that the computer chip would double in power at half the price each year. Gordon Moore predicted this in 1965 and it is arguably still true. To contextualize how shocking this is, if a 1971 VW Beetle followed the law, today it would travel 300,000 mph, at 2 million mpg, and cost 4 cents.
Facts like these contribute to our obsessive need for speed. Computers work faster, shouldn’t we? Computers are more productive. Shouldn't we be? It is this need for speed that contributes to many organizational challenges. The need to get things done and fast contributes to a checklist mentality that drives many organizations.
Yet there is a radical key to long term success that this mindset misses: team over task. This is one of the most radical mindsets out there. Isn't task the coin of the realm? Don't we get rewarded by doing more tasks? Isn't every bonus structure built upon task? Sadly, yes.
But it does not have to be that way, and it shouldn't. The world moves at the speed of trust so if we really wanted to go faster, we would invest in building a high-trust team. That high trust team would achieve more tasks more quickly for a longer period than any individual or low-trust team. Yet too many times our need for speed causes us to prioritize task in such a way that the team is injured in the process. “I don't care about your opinion on this. It just needs done. Do it.” Or, “I don't have time to hear your suggested modifications, just get it done.” Or, “I know half the team thinks this is a bad idea so let's not ask for their input.” All of that is task over team and all of it slows the organization down in perpetuity.
Team over Task, on the other hand, prioritizes team and team building. Knowing that the world moves at the speed of trust, the time invested in building trust pays back in multiples. Once we have the right people on the bus, we must continually focus on our teamship (isn't it interesting that I had to invent a word for what teams do that would parallel the leadership that leaders do? Kind of shows our priorities, doesn't it?)
Every challenge, every task is an opportunity to build team—to teach teamship. And once we do, our world will move at the speed of our increased trust. I hear scientists and engineers talk about what Moore's law would do to other equipment or technology. Imagine if your team could achieve Moore's law on trust…
Team over Task--a radical key to long-term success.
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