Re: "Team Player" - Please Define? >> Community Challenge!

["Jane" <judydh -at- total -dot- net>]

Hi all

I've lost track of this thread, so here's something else that may have been
mentioned. A team player thinks of the team first and foremost--they
evaluate if any side project they are working on can interfere with the team
accomplishing their objectives, and if so, then they structure their
schedule accordingly. They make sure that they are at least as good as any
other writer at any task, because if they are weak, the team is weak as
well.

A team playing manager will give support and credit to the team. Team
members will recognize and encourage each other's strengths and support and
help develop [teach and review] each other's weaknesses.

<<Sorry, old cynical habit: Team players suppress all individuality in
favour of what is best for the group. They may be excellent, and even
visionary, but if they seem to be tall poppies, they will get lopped off.
And there are lots of managers who are not team players, who like to think
"you can't play in my sandbox">>

Maybe it's best said by John Chaffee in _The Thinker's Way_, in the chapter
'Live Creatively':

As members of communities, we have a responsibility to stimulate and support
the creative endeavors of others.  As we develop our own creative resources,
it is only fitting that we give back tothose who have nurtured and supported
our achievements. The strength of a community, as opposed to a collection of
individuals, lies in the concerted efforts of its individual members to work
together to enrich the lives of all.


So, community of TechWr-Lers, have you done anything nifty and creative with
your work (not necessarily job) lately? I'm learning how to program in Java,
which is fun, and I'm learning HTML help. I'm trying to get all fired up for
my next job, whatever that may be.