Wednesday, March 12, 2008



I've taken a break from the blog world intrigued by the nature of highly integrated teams. I'm happy to say that the ancient idea of teams, cohorts sounds even better, holds great promise for a new renaissance for our building culture.

Some of the current buzzwords in our industry include collaboration and integrated delivery. The root of each are finely tuned teams. Imagine if our favorite team fielded a different set of players every game (project). The result would be ugly and embarrassing.

Projects that require complex coordination high, levels of cooperation, anticipation and change can only succeed with well rehearsed teams. We start every project with high hopes - but we delude ourselves if we think that the system we have will lead to teamwork and our best work.

On the eve of March Madness keep you eyes open for evidence of teams that find their groove. We just might take some of that flow and cohesion back to work with us for our next project. Of course, that fluidness didn't just happen - that's the other side of the story.

For those who are not sports fans take a moment and watch this video of Starlings in a kind of performance art of nature. The incredible anticipation and movement they display will catch your attention and perhaps your imagination.

I need to ask my local Biomimicry expert what lessons these Starlings might impart to our effort in mindshift? I am convinced that the behavior of these Starlings is not just a metaphor for teamwork - but a realistic possibility.

If we need teamwork to succeed, what do we need to do differently? What kind of system will we need to create?
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