Divide and conquer

Its been a little while since I have posted here but I wanted to capture the thoughts I had on a topic that is more practical than "Deep". Having a team means there are multiple moving parts that can be put to tasks in such a way as to accomplish much more than any one of the team could by themselves. To go even further they are more than merely the sum of their parts. But a leader must, just like a good sports coach, know when to pull one of the players out of the game for the good of not only themselves but of the team.

Ill admit I'm not a huge sports fan, quite honestly I would rather read a good book any day than sit through a game. However I think this analogy is particularly true when it comes to work and follows almost directly the sports allegory. I have seen coaches pull out star players during a game when not only they fell that player needs resting but also for the good of the team. They will bench the star knowing the rest of the team can maintain while the player rests and then bring them back in at a critical moment when their energy is renewed and when the opportunity in which they reintroduce them can take full advantage of their talent.

In the workplace this is an important lesson to learn from a coach. I have seen many times a full team huddle around a problem and all of them work to the wee hours of the morning trying to solve it. This may look like, at face value, a great idea and perhaps sometimes it is. But looking at the lesson of the coach we see that we really may be hurting the team. With all players getting tired there is no one to play relief. You are not staggering your resources and honestly at those times when other members of the team can maintain until a specific resource is needed for a task they are uniquely gifted for, you have squandered that by the fact of using them up when you didn't need them.

This isn't an easy one to do consistently but learn to know when to send people home. Learn to know what resources need to be engaged at what times. I have had tough times with this on a few occasions and sometimes people will misunderstand when you are trying to send them home or be upset because they aren't a part. The only thing I can say to this is explain why you are doing it. In the long run you are helping each of them, the team, and your organization but "coaching" instead of just letting them call their own plays during a crisis situation.