Virtuoso-Mediocre

As I went through the reading on Virtuoso Teams, I was flushed with my own memories. I was part of a "virtuoso team" in my college. I could relate to the various dynamics mentioned in the reading, and realized that things were not so much layered as the reading says.

I thought, and still think of myself, as an individual with limited talents but with a lot of positive energy. Also primarily, the team was of friends who could criticize each other and still bond. The members of the team were 'honest' with each other in all respects, be it their ideas, their likes, dislikes or the way of working.

This is the most important thing in forming a team, that could achieve great results. As I even said in the class, the concept of classifying teams as virtuoso or mediocre is something i do not agree to. The classification is based on the composition of the team, but in essence it is classified on the results it produces. The example of "West side story" would not have been given had it not become a huge success.

The example of the football club Real Madrid is not given though it has the biggest stars in the world. A virtuoso team by all standards except one, that of achieving results. It would be said, that assembling the best in the business does not make for a great team. At the same time, Indian cricket team won the world cup when it had a majority of non star players. A mediocre team that achieved supreme success. And these are not exceptions proving the theory right, there are a lot of such examples which could in fact challenge the theory.
In the video of Ideo, a vital part of their process is to honestly evaluate the ideas. And give every idea an honest chance to flower.

Overall, I feel, that if team members of any team are brutally honest with each other and passionately caring, then a team of individuals having mediocre skills can achieve results much beyond what they could achieve in a traditional setting of compliance. Say no to compliance and Yes to rebel.