What is a DREAM Team?

Rob over at The Adventure of Strategy offers this post called, Dream Teams or Dysfunctional Nightmares. In the post he discusses a recent Fortune article about dream teams that fail. He writes:

Dream Teams are a beguiling idea. Assemble a team made up of the very best brains and success will be assured, right.......?   All too often:  No, not really.

Hmmm.... I think Rob's post is spot on as it relates to the ups and downs of putting several super talented people together on a team.

What's gnawing at me is that I would not have defined DREAM TEAM in the way Fortune did. To me, a dream team is one where the chemistry and relationship amongst the team members is so good that they ROCK together. Sure, it is important that they are all talented, but they don't each have to be the #1 player of their functional game.

Let's face it, Seattle is not known for its sports teams lately. But in 2001 the Mariners won an unheard of 116 games. Why - many say it was a team dynamic. They together rocked. Of course, they lost the big dance - the team did not rock on that day.

I think dream team is a state - and a team can go in and out of dreaminess. The same individuals can rock together one day and not on the next.

I am not saying that all teams can be dream teams - there is some chemistry involved. I was a member of a small dream team while at Black & Decker in the late 80s. My manager (the Director of HR), my peer (the HR manager) and I (training manager) were a powerful triad of results. Together we rocked. Our styles clicked and encouraged the very best from one another. To this day, I compare all work experiences to this one. We were so successful that we all got promoted. Dream team gone.

Which are you trying to create - a dream team (my definition) or a collection of dreamboats who compete against one another or pass in the night? I believe hiring for fit - for the potential of high chemistry and relationship - is so important. I wrote about that recently here.

I hope to one day be a member of a dream team again. It's a blast - a rush - and very fulfilling. I also think it is pretty rare. If you are a member of a dream team (my definition) show your appreciation and enjoy the time together.

Comments

[Robert Millard]

Thanks for the hat tip, Lisa. I think that a true "dream team" is where the members are superstars AND the chemistry and relationship amongst the team members is so good that they rock together. That's about as commonplace as hens teeth. Yet I cringe at how often firms invest significant amounts attracting dream laterals away from other firms, expecting them to coalesce into dream teams with the minimum of leadership and guidance. Then, they seem genuinely surprised when the teams fall flat.