Transform Time With Your Team

“I would rather improve somebody rather than give up on them. There a lot things in life you can learn, and I believe you should have the benefit of trying to do it. I’d rather torture you into greatness because I believe in you.”
- Jenssen Huang, CEO Nvidia

Many teams fail because people give up on each other and don’t really value having relationships in the first place. In these types of “teams” - everything is reduced to a begrudging command and control situation. “It’s just a job”.

The reality is that a lot of jobs are like that. The fact that there is a “team” of people at the office simply means that everyone is collecting a paycheck from the same company. No one is watching out for each other. In fact, the opposite tends to be true - people on your “team” are passively or actively hoping you fail so they can get ahead.

It is rare for companies the size of Nvidia to be so committed to employee tenure. As Jenssen Huang describes - he’s very hesitant to fire anyone. The upside of this approach is that over years of success and failure he has created a true team that is incredibly aligned and productive towards their mission of accelerated computing. With only 28,000 employees (relatively small by corporate standards) they have generated enormous shareholder value and are poised to become one of the most valuable companies in business history.

For many people, teams and team relationships are exhausting because being on a team means that sooner or later people are going to do something that causes pain - either by accident or deliberately. This kind of interaction can be especially triggering if we grew up in situations where people close to us caused a lot of pain.

Rather than accepting these inevitable bumps and bruises as part of being in community, it is very easy to fall into the victim spiral. Depending on the size of the hurt, all kinds of negative energy is generated:

However, if you begin from the premise that you are part of a real team, then entirely different dynamics play out when things go wrong (as they always do!). Instead of referencing everything as a personal affront - things get reframed as mistakes and are seen a basic and inevitable part of being on a team.

Every team culture is different, and sometimes the culture is so toxic and critical that your efforts at being a team player will basically have no impact. Generally though, most teams are trying their best to achieve some level of success and mutual support. When things go wrong with your team, make sure to stay in relationship with them rather than giving up on them in a toxic victim spiral.

The energy unleashed by a highly functioning team is unsurpassed, but it takes incredible commitment and dedication to reach that level. Handling mistakes is a critical part of activating successful team dynamics. Don’t give up on each other when mistakes happen. Instead, use mistakes to build team momentum and cohesion, rather than the more typical toxic fault-finding dynamic that leaves everyone alienated and on their own.