Ryan T. Hartwig - Teams That Thrive: Five Disciplines of Collaborative Church Leadership

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

African Proverb

When people work together to finish a job, such as building a house, will the job (a) probably get done faster, (b) take longer to finish, or (c) not get done? That simple quiz comes from Richard Hackman, acclaimed Harvard researcher, voiced in the opening pages of his book Leading Teams.

Yes, teams do have tremendous potential to create something extraordinary. For that reason, teams are found in every area of life today, including multiple varieties within our churches. Perhaps youve heard and used slogans like these as far back as your earliest school days:

• Teamwork makes the dream work.
• T.E.A.M. = Together Everyone Achieves More!
• We is better than me.
• There is no I in the word team.

Unfortunately, reality often doesnt live up to those oft-heard slogans. Maybe youve created or even led teams that simply didnt work, despite all the hoopla about what a well-working team can do.

If so, youre not alone. Enough people have been disillusioned by teams that a number of clever sarcasms have also arisen:

• A committee is a group that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
• A camel is a horse designed by a group.
• If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be meetings.
• The major difference between meetings and funerals is that most funerals have a definite purpose. Also, nothing is ever really buried in a meeting.

Teams are found in every area of life today, including multiple varieties within our churches.

In fact, the term teamwork frequently conjures up images of wandering discussions, unresolved friction, wasted time, pooled ignorance, ineffective decision-making practices and frustrated group members, in spite of good intentions regarding the potential of working together. Harvard researcher Hackman says, Research consistently shows that teams underperform, despite all the extra resources they have.

Weve seen the same sad reality in too many churches. These days it seems that everyone is trying to do ministry through teams, but despite all the resources available on teamwork, many people simply dont know how to improve their teams. Worse, many teams seriously underperform but the teams leaders think the results are just fine, not realizing that their team has huge untapped potential.

With frustrating team experiences being all too common, many people have accepted, perhaps without realizing it, a low-bar status quo. Or theyve gone further and grown disillusioned with teams. Despite the possible advantages of teams over individual performance, many have concluded that teams are simply not worth the hassle.

It doesnt have to be that way. Instead, teams can thrive. Teams can outperform the individualby far. Teams can accomplish the seemingly impossible. And team life can be quite fulfilling: team members can operate out of humility, develop strong friendships, enjoy their teamwork and interaction, and never want to leave the organization or team.

With coaching, your team can likely accomplish significant goals you never imagined possible!

Weve seen great teams in action in churches like yours. The truth is, many church teams are thriving. We surveyed them, watched them and talked with church staff, volunteers and elders that rely on them for direction and guidance. These teams are truly leading their churches collaboratively. And so can your team. Your team can grow to be extraordinary. Yes, with coaching, your team can likely accomplish significant goals you never imagined possible!

Teams that thrive (1) believe that collaborative leadership is practically and biblically the right way to lead, and (2) discipline themselves to practice the fundamentalsday in and day outthat make a great team.

We wrote this book to help the teams at your church thrive, especially the senior leadership team. From all our research, were convinced that the best teams are distinguished in two ways. First, teams that thrive believe that collaborative leadership is practically and biblically the right way to lead. Despite the challenges that teams naturally face (go to any playground to see the inherent challenges of doing anything productive together), these teams are committed to making collaboration work at the executive leadership level. Second, teams that thrive discipline themselves to practice the fundamentalsday in and day outthat make a great team. Teamwork can be hard, for sure, but great teams work hard to become great at it. Because they know its worthwhile to lead collaboratively, they do what it takes to become extraordinary.