The Many I's in Team

Most times that I have worked with others on creative solutions, it has been in the context of software or systems project design work. Usually it is in the development of proposals in which creative design solutions to requirements must be articulated elegantly and succinctly, meeting the technical requirements specified by the client and also standing out as an attractive design unlike competitors' offerings while still meeting internal business needs of being doable and profitable.

I can think of only a few occasions outside of work in which I have been part of a creative team. The first was an attempt to jointly write a work of fiction with a partner. Over many years, I have been involved in plenty of creative writing games of interactive fiction in which multiple players from around the world each contribute prose from the perspective of their fictional characters’ roles in an ongoing story. The narrative elements then hang together as one continuous piece of fiction. As another example, two years ago, my first stage play : Ashes to Ashes was produced by an amateur theater group,

In each of these cases, when the work has been successful, it has been through a few key principles that may never have been stated among the group and yet were critical to success. First, there were clearly defined and understood roles of the team members. People bring their own talents and strengths to the team, but the project must be sorted out so that there is no unnecessary overlap or contention on key components. Second, there was recognition of each other's abilities and mutual respect. Third, there was no second guessing of each other’s contributions. The team may engage in self critique, but it is done in an open and inclusive manner with all parties sharing equally in the presentation of their work and acceptance of suggestions, praise or criticism on what they have accomplished.

These things are all like rules of engagement, without which, the project would likely fail, although just having them in place does not guarantee success. The greatest guarantor of success in team work in my experience has been equality. It is reflected in the mutual respect noted above, however, team members must be equal in their level of skill, understanding, or ability. They do not have to have the same skills, but unless they are on a par with their level of ability, it will not be an even partnership or team and one member or subgroup will dominate the rest.

The resulting product from an imbalanced team may be excellent, but the experience will not be rewarding for all team members in the same way that a project of equal contributions can be. Dominant members may feel put upon or that they carried the team. Less skilled members may feel used or that they were lackeys of the greater contributors. It is unlikely that the team will want to create together again, unless forced to do so (such as in a work situation) in which case resentment can fester and poison the quality of the work.