OK. I’m probably not the best person to throw around sports metaphors. But here goes.
We all want the A team playing for us. And not just that. We want a good diversity of skills. And how about a “bench” to draw from so we can put together the right mix for the right moment. We want attitude. We want talent. We want fitness and flexibility.
But we want more than the pieces. We need good communication. We need tactics and strategy. And as these conditions come together, we need to feel them working. We need mojo!
Basketball is an exciting sport to watch. Constant motion. Big plays. Acrobatic athleticism.
But what fascinates me is that guy pacing the sideline. Intent. Sometimes agitated. And suddenly, the time out and the coach with his team in a huddle.
The coach can’t touch what happens on the game floor any more than I can physically be there when a cabinet is hung or the floor gets sanded. I sympathize with their intense, but helpless, sideline attention. They’ve attended to every moment that leads to those five players taking the floor. Now they hope that the magic they planned for – with the players they picked, the plays they drilled, the attitude they nurtured, and above all the team they formed – will actually happen.
People think the work we do is uniquely satisfying because at the end of the day we actually make something. Hopefully something enduring, useful, and beautiful. We do that. But we also bring our game. We take to the floor to not only build something, but to exhibit the result of what went into it. Something we do together.
When it comes to great building, it takes more than talent.
It takes a team.