Basic business principles - A team will outperform an individual

[Dave A]

A team, or an organisation, will outperform an individual every time.

This is a big one, full of ifs and buts. A critical element is whether the team is in fact a group of individuals working together to move in a particular direction, or just a loose conglomeration of individuals who are all on their own mission.

[duncan drennan]

I personally agree with you, but there are certainly lots of people who wouldn't. Recently Steve Wozniak (the Apple inventor) has released a book, iWoz, in which it seems (from what I've read about it) that he supports the go it alone route.

It's very different when you're trying to create a business.

[Candy Bouwer]

surely "a team" lead by a dynamic individual, is what puts an organization at the head of any one man show. loosely a group of indiviuals pulling in the same direction would also show the same results...this is a land mine of if's and buts...i agree.

It's very different when you're trying to create a business.

the trick here would be for others to catch the same vision ...a team can be born!

[Dave A]

Recently Steve Wozniak (the Apple inventor) has released a book, iWoz, in which it seems (from what I've read about it) that he supports the go it alone route.

From that wiki reference:

He is known for his introverted character, and he finds his level of celebrity somewhat annoying. He is also known as the "Other Steve" of Apple Computer, the more prominent Steve being co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs.

Quite understandable that he's more comfortable working on his own. The irony is that introverts are particularly productive when there are people around them who quietly take care of the details they don't really get round to.

Building teams is not easy. But if you get 2 or 3 people really working well together, they absolutely can achieve far more than working on their own. I recall a 4 member estate agency that was outperforming agencies with 30+ agents. Each member of the team complimented each other perfectly, and they worked as a team. They did only manage to keep it together for a bit over a year though

Personally, I think the risk is worth the potential reward, and our goal should be to try to be the kind of person that can work in a team. Even if it just comes together for a while and then everyone moves on, it's better than never experiencing the joy of being part of a killer team.

Just keep looking for the win/win situation.