Working with someone else who holds me accountable creates a bizarre amount of motivation for me. There is certainly something hard-wired in humanity about working in groups.
I can relate to working with others. So far in the WFH pandemic I've been mostly all right, but I work so much better in a team, with someone actually telling me what to do, what they expect, instead of me having that responsibility myself.
I'm guessing it's a 'subservient' personality trait of sorts. Others are 'natural' leaders, good at keeping an overview of what needs to be done and distributing that. Others are self-motivated and driven and make amazing things all on their own. And all of those probably fit in a venn diagram.
I think having other people to work with is your best leverage. With a group commitment you're working to support your team instead of a less tangible goal (it works for gangs, political parties and the military).
Me too! And I find it much easier and faster to get better stuff done when on a team with smart and creative people rather than locked away trying to solve everything on my own. Working with smart people who know things I don't is inspiring and makes me produce better work, and hopefully they can gain from my areas of expertise.
It doesn't even have to have anything to do with socializing per se. I don't need to know about your kids or what you did on your weekend and we don't even have to eat lunch together or go out for beers after work. But for me having someone I turn to and say "Hey can you take look at this thing, I can't get it to work" and having them understand what I'm trying to do and say "Have you considered this different approach, here let me show you" is a key to me getting my best stuff done.
I've heard people claim the "I bring disparate teams together..." before. I don't know the details of your particular situations but in the situations I've been involved, both times, it has been people taking credit for the work of others.
Also, on teamwork it seems to be the case, often, that the competent people do all the work, and are expected to share credit, but will take all the blame if they get something wrong. At least, that’s how it works in corporate. It’s exhausting. As a so-called “lone wolf”, you get to finish early and go home.
That's the other big benefit of having one or two other people there with you. You have your own cheerleading team - many times we have had conversations that get us re-psyched to tackle some hard problems that otherwise seemed daunting. Motivating myself would be hard without other people alongside me, giving up other social and business opportunities for what seems like a great idea.
That's excellent! it never occurred to me it could have such a positive effect in a team situation. Empowering the supporting members is very insightful, they may be supporting but they are just as critical, they need to feel appreciation for the value they provide to stay sharp and motivated - I hope this can be applied to other contexts, thanks for sharing this.
I've had this at my latest position for a while and it's been incredibly healthy. The team is incentivized to actually work together when someone has a blocker or stuck on something. It also turns into a team spirit boost because we can shoot the shit while people hop in instead of worrying about posturing for management.
There is also a shared commitment to a project that you get working in close physical proximity. Your colleagues are more likely to be motivated to help you or achieve something difficult when everyone is working on a project together.
I am similar. What I have noticed in my professional career is that a team really helps. When I am not on my "high" sometimes other team members are on their "high". That works really well and then my "high" comes back. Hopefully that makes sense.
My proposal: we work on a project together. Worst case, it doesn't work out and we both have the same outcome. Best case, we deliver something valuable. Let me know what you think.
It has been my experience that, while working in a group, it's actually harder to get things done. You have to reach a consensus first before you can act. The progress may be steadier, but in the long term slower.
Maybe I'm suffering from a bad college trauma. During college, we were forced to work in project groups. This was always a disaster, I remember calling group members at 2AM to email their contributions to the project, only to find it full of mistakes and largely copied/pasted from the internet. I'd spend the rest of the night editing the piece 'cause I sure as hell wasn't going to flunk on their behalf. When I would do a project on my own (my Thesis, for example) I'd get substantially higher grades with less hassle in less time.
Sounds like a situation I've found myself in before. The majority of the work is done, and it's become more work to organize and maintain a team than to simply do it on your own.
You could find some people to work together with. In my experience, it makes a bit easier to keep going because you are supporting and motivating each other.
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