If we are honest with ourselves, we know that most complex problems cannot be solved in isolation by one person. For sure the world is blessed with an occasional genius able to cut through and bring to our awareness a new way to see the world or the issues we are dealing with. However in the main it takes each one of us to show up and work out how to pool our resources.
In my experience one of the defining characteristics of high performing teams is the ability of each person to bring everything of themselves without getting caught in their own ego. In other words, to offer the fullness of their talents and resources in service of the team goal or purpose. In using the word team, we can consider this a work group, a whole company or indeed at the level of nations.
To bring ourselves fully in service of the shared goal or purpose means that goal or purpose must have resonance for each person – there must be a sense in which each member of the group or team (or organisation/country) can feel themselves identified with something bigger than themselves and their own individual needs.
To fully step into the power and we might say genius of group work, we are called to be both deeply self-aware and self-confident – to have a good sense of what we can bring, our unique talents and contribution, and simultaneously be willing and able to offer, or ‘sacrifice’, our own identity in service of the higher call of the group work.
It isn’t easy. It calls for respect and a higher love across all members of the group, between departments, between organisations and nations. If we want to stop wars, if we want to address destructive conflict, if we want to be even more creative in our solutions, and aligned in our ways of living on this earth, finding that sweet spot between our own contribution and the higher call of the collective is key.
This is where the genius lies…not in self-aggrandisement but in joyful and creative collective endeavour.