This last minute fill-in turned out well. They made a great team!

Celine Dion & Josh Groban:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbviXG_56ss

"In union there is strength."
- Aesop

"Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable."
- Kenyan Proverb

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth."
- Bahá’u'lláh

"People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society."
- Vince Lombardi

"Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success."
- Stephen Covey

"Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it."
- Brian Tracy

#MainMessageForToday
Teamwork is one ingredient for success.

Is the song Cruisin' better by the team or the individual?.....
The remake by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis is good. But is it better than Smokey Robinson's original version?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHVhTFvhCMM

"Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much."
- Helen Keller

"Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds."
- SEAL Team

"No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team."
- Reid Hoffman

Some believe the results produced by a team would always be better than the work produced by an individual. In other words, the team would always win.....

"None of us is as smart as all of us."
- Ken Blanchard

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it."
- H.E. Luccock

Some tasks seem to require a team. Are there tasks that would be better completed by one individual?
My answer: YES, some tasks such as driving a car should be performed by one individual. Having two individuals at the wheel of a car at the same time would be chaos.

"Social psychologists have looked at the differences between the ways people perform when there are others around and when there aren't. From these observations have come some general guidelines for when a team is likely to be more effective than an individual. Some of the most important are:
* The people in the team, in general, have the skills to tackle the task at hand.
* The task requires the complementary skills of a number of people.
* The task specifically requires several people (moving a piano, for instance).
* The success of the task is not based on the performance of the weakest team member.
* Team members have experience working in teams.
* The perceived importance of the task is high.
* Group commitment to the task is high."
- http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/team-building/main

#MainMessageForToday
When a task is big and unmanageable, people tend to use teams.

Do you think there is more likely to be problems when individuals with different skills and abilities work together (for example, smart members paired with dull members)?
Or is more conflict likely when all the members are good/smart similar to this team......

Song 'When You Believe' by Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey:
https://youtu.be/LKaXY4IdZ40

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
― Phil Jackson

There is usually trouble when a member of the team does not believe in the abilities of other members or do not trust them.
This is an example:
Conflict on Project Runway - Josh and Becky fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jZFHf7UTus

"Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story."
- Casey Stengel

#MainMessageForToday
When everyone contributes to the team, the result is usually better. But getting everyone to work well together is the challenge.

The two singers sound alike in this song, maybe because they worked so well together. Great example of collaboration and teamwork. 

Song 'Someone To Love' by Job B. featuring Babyface:
https://youtu.be/3geit04i9DY

"Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it."
- Bill Bradley

"My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people."
- Steve Jobs

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins."
- Jim Stovall

"If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. Therefore, respect every musician in his proper place."
- Robert Schumann

"Collaboration, it turns out, is not a gift from the gods but a skill that requires effort and practice."
- Douglas B. Reeves, Transforming Professional Development Into Student Results

"If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless."
- Darryl F. Zanuck

#MainMessageForToday
Working as part of a team takes work. Some things that are needed: respect others, listen to others, and sometimes give up the lead position.

I think the song 'We Are The World' is a great example of teamwork. Each singer has his/her own style and it comes through clearly. (Notice how different Bruce Springsteen's voice is). They are beautiful together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2W4-0qUdHY

"People have been known to achieve more as a result of working with others than against them."
- Dr. Allan Fromme

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."
- Andrew Carnegie

"Teamwork is the secret that make common people achieve uncommon result."
- Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
- Helen Keller

#MainMessageForToday
A team - a group of people - can achieve much more than the individual. To achieve, the team must work well together.

Theme for the week 11/29 - 12/5: Teamwork, which follows last week's topic Creativity.