Teamwork

Seajack

Seajack

Alpaca Farmer
Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
136
Location
New Orleans
I've got some summer trainings in the Sea Cadets coming up that are going to be much harder than anything I've done yet. Fun, but theres still a lesson to be learned from it, one being teamwork. I've been to RTC, and what I got from that is, you carry the fat kid that isn't putting out during "the mile" and that's what teamwork is. I don't feel like that's the epitome of it, but that's essentially what I've been taught so far. Is it really mine and my buddy's job to carry his happy ass a few hundred meters? Carrying fatty isn't going to be the issue, since the maximum for the regular fitness test is the minimum for the one I took, but new situations will arise.

What should I know about teamwork?
 
I hope I'm not stepping out of my bounds here. All the people on your team are your responsibility like you are theirs. Sometimes a team mate will be a cunt but you still do whatever you can to help them because helping them is helping the team.

On a literal level carrying him might be a bit much, as far as strictly teamwork goes, depending on the goals of the team at the time. Regardless, never leave him. Give him encouragement. Not overdoing it but a "doing well mate, keep it up" kinda thing. That goes for the rest of the team too, of course.

Sometimes you'll have to work with a cunt. Shit happens. They get the same treatment as everyone else. A team shouldn't be exclusive.
 
I have no problems stepping out of bounds.

Working with a shithead sucks. I say that from first hand experience. Whenever possible, you get that shithead off your team, period.
My opinion of teamwork is much more harsh/exclusive- teamwork is every person on the team performing to the utmost, with the team in mind first. Some people cant make the standard- well, those people don't get to be on the team. Those people should leave the team, not force others to carry/cover for/make excuses for them.

And I 100% believe a team should be exclusive. Thats the point. Work hard. Make team. Stay on team. Help team because you know every man to your left and right has put forth the same effort as you. Help teammates when momentary circumstances warrant it, but not all the time. Not everyone gets to be on the team, gents, and we cant all be alpha males.
 
amlove21 said:
I have no problems stepping out of bounds.

Working with a shithead sucks. I say that from first hand experience. Whenever possible, you get that shithead off your team, period.
My opinion of teamwork is much more harsh/exclusive- teamwork is every person on the team performing to the utmost, with the team in mind first. Some people cant make the standard- well, those people don't get to be on the team. Those people should leave the team, not force others to carry/cover for/make excuses for them.

And I 100% believe a team should be exclusive. Thats the point. Work hard. Make team. Stay on team. Help team because you know every man to your left and right has put forth the same effort as you. Help teammates when momentary circumstances warrant it, but not all the time. Not everyone gets to be on the team, gents, and we cant all be alpha males.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%. Sucks to think like this in the majority of our modern world, where everyone gets to "make the team"...

To quote my teenage son, "I'm not sure why he's in the Honors biology class. He's a dumbass..." :D
 
Teamwork to me is the unity of two or more people working together to accomplish a task.

If you want to be a good teammate you need to stop thinking in the “me” and start thinking in the “we”. Everything you do affects the team, good or bad, everything you fail to do will require someone else on the team to do for you, or the team fails. You need to know your place within that team, know what your duties are in that place and you need to know how to accomplish those duties. You need to know how to ask for help from your other teammates and you need to be there to help them when they ask.

Nobody likes a fatty, but if your team’s task is to win a hot dog eating contest after running a mile, you might want to make sure fatty makes it to the table so that the “team” can win.

Each person has something they are good at, each person has ability and it is up to the team or more so the team leader to figure out what those abilities are and utilize them in unity with the other team members to accomplish whatever the task is.
 
I think, JAB, that you and I are different sides of the same coin. I see where you're head's at, but I disagree. I guess I have a little more latitude, speaking from a place where I can actually decide if one guy stays/goes, as opposed to "everyone is going, make this group a team". Might be talking out of my ass though. :cool:

If the fatty keeps you from getting to the table, then he isn't on the team. Everyone does have specific talents, and thats good, but i think there is a baseline that the team needs to apply and then adhere to that standard. I know of one guy thats an awesome guy, well liked, etc, just doesn't belong on the team.
 
amlove21 said:
I think, JAB, that you and I are different sides of the same coin. I see where you're head's at, but I disagree. I guess I have a little more latitude, speaking from a place where I can actually decide if one guy stays/goes, as opposed to "everyone is going, make this group a team". Might be talking out of my ass though. :cool:

If the fatty keeps you from getting to the table, then he isn't on the team. Everyone does have specific talents, and thats good, but i think there is a baseline that the team needs to apply and then adhere to that standard. I know of one guy thats an awesome guy, well liked, etc, just doesn't belong on the team.
Click to expand...

I was not disagreeing with your post of cutting out the non-team players or people who just don’t make things work well. What I was posting to is the duty of a team member to accept the team and work to meet the task. We have all served on that team that everything clicked, where words never needed to be spoken. But we did not get there by getting on a team and then picking and choosing who we want to work with.

But to keep it short, I absolutely agree with cutting dead weight. However in teaching someone about what team or teamwork means, I would disagree that it is trying to kick people off that slow you down or who are making shit difficult. Part of being a teammate/team player, is accepting the limits of other members or of the team and learning to work around those limits (regardless of attitude, performance, or height/weight).

I think your expertise you are drawing from on teamwork/teammates is a little too far forward of what SeaJack is ready to understand. At his level I would point him to be focused more on learning to be a good teammate and learning to work well in a team vs how to select/cut individuals from that team.
 
Part of being a teammate/team player, is accepting the limits of other members or of the team and learning to work around those limits (regardless of attitude, performance, or height/weight).
Click to expand...

I will agree there- but those limits should 100% not be "self induced" limits. I am not saying everyone has to be a stud- but you better not be last EVERY day, EVERY event. Sometimes what a team doesn't have is as/more important than what they do.


I think your expertise you are drawing from on teamwork/teammates is a little too far forward of what SeaJack is ready to understand. At his level I would point him to be focused more on learning to be a good teammate and learning to work well in a team vs how to select/cut individuals from that team.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I'll definitely go with that, no arguments.
 
When I said exclusive I was meaning exclusive to people already on the team. The lad in question isn't going to get to pick and choose who comes and goes on the team at this stage so he has to suck it up. It's a fact that most people in life don't get to choose who they work with- you have to deal with it and suck it up in 90% of cases.
 
Seajack said:
Does it hurt a team if there are "clicks"?
Click to expand...

I don't know what a 'Click' is but cliques are going to happen in any large groups. In a small group like an ODA, or a PJ team cliques cannot happen. When I was in Robin Sage my team was very clique(sp?). We did not work well together. We had the leadership clique, then about half the team in one and the other half in another. We had personality conflicts and leadership differences. However we did work through them very well towards the end, because our cadre saw it and told us about how it would destroy us if we did not adapt and overcome. Nothing truer has been spoken to me. When you go to Basic or Sea Cadet trng or whatever there will be cliques. It is unavoidable. Just go with it and get with the studly dudes and you will be good.
 
cback0220 said:
Attention to detail young padawan. How long would it have taken you to look it up?
Click to expand...
I didn't realize that "click' was a homophone to 'clique' until you mentioned it. Just assumed it was a homograph.

Less than five seconds though, to answer your question.
 
I am not a SOF and old to boot. We had four people on a PBR and then one of the two boats carried a patrol officer often a CPO not an officer. Once a crew came together and worked as a team it was amazing how little communication was required to get the patrol performed. These three guys two dead now know more about me than my wife of 38 years.
There is a group from Korea called the Frozen Chosin. Just a group of combat men put in a position that required teamwork to survive. http://homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/chosin.html .
Don't forget the teamwork required to raise a family. The wife of a soldier or the husband of a soldier doesn't face combat but faces very real adversities every day and is as much of the team as the combatants. One type of team has a leader that can remove a participant to improve their particular team. Then there are teams that have 200 people and must become a team or die.
Good Luck and enjoy the process good or bad it is an experience you will always remember.
Respectfully,
Bill
 
Manolito said:
I am not a SOF and old to boot. We had four people on a PBR and then one of the two boats carried a patrol officer often a CPO not an officer. Once a crew came together and worked as a team it was amazing how little communication was required to get the patrol performed. These three guys two dead now know more about me than my wife of 38 years.
There is a group from Korea called the Frozen Chosin. Just a group of combat men put in a position that required teamwork to survive. http://homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/chosin.html .
Don't forget the teamwork required to raise a family. The wife of a soldier or the husband of a soldier doesn't face combat but faces very real adversities every day and is as much of the team as the combatants. One type of team has a leader that can remove a participant to improve their particular team. Then there are teams that have 200 people and must become a team or die.
Good Luck and enjoy the process good or bad it is an experience you will always remember.
Respectfully,
Bill
Click to expand...

One of the best posts in a long time. Appreciate your input sir!
 
Gents,

I appreciate the varied insights on this topic. Soon I'll be going to instruct at our PJ selection course and it's nice to have all of your views to take into account.

With that, I feel that a large factor for one making the "team" is heart. I've witnessed absolute studs be complete selfish whining shitdicks.

I have been on missions with guys who just glided through their whole training pipeline and "pup" status at the unit because people liked them, but they turned out to be the worst to work with. The guys that truly uphold the epitome of the team concept are the studs that feel no sense of entitlement, carry more because they want to, and provide guidance and leadership to those that show promise.

I'd love to hear more from the guys who have instructed at their respective selection courses.
Thanks
J
 

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