“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”

Thoreau. Walden. 1854.

Does that statement still hold true today?

Absolutely. Especially for entrepreneurs and creative professionals.

MY THEORY: That’s the problem with collaboration. Or teams. Or partnerships. Or committees.

The more people you have, the longer it takes to move.

Not that you should be opposed to working with others.

Sometimes teams help.
Sometimes they hinder.

Sometimes two heads are better than one.
Sometimes two heads are deader than one.

Sometimes together everyone achieves more.
Sometimes together everyone annoys each other beyond belief and nothing gets executed.

LESSON LEARNED: Don’t allow your dreams to be realized at a significantly slower pace because you’re too busy looking over your shoulder.

That’s how once-great ideas fizzle.

All I can say is: Wait!

Before you form a partnership, join a team or commence collaboration, consider these six truths:

1. Conditioning murders efficiency. Since day one of preschool, we’ve been indoctrinated to believe that teamwork is the secret. That working together is the answer. As the motivational poster says “Together Everybody Achieves More.”

Not always. In truth, the efficacy of teams is largely a myth. But we’ve been romanced and seduced into believing that teams are so wonderful, when in fact their power works in reverse.

In the June 2009 issue of Inc., James Freedman said it best: “In many cases, individuals do much better on their own. Our bias toward groups is counterproductive.” Are you ready to wake up from the dangerous dreams you’ve been fed?

2. The best way to block a punch is to not be there. Inasmuch as teams, partnerships and collaborations net positive results, imagine the amount of baggage you wouldn’t have to deal with if you did it yourself:

No meetings. No arguing. No awkward silences. No power plays. No excuses. No asking permission. No begging for forgiveness. No memos. No putting out fires. No managing people. No task requests. No waiting for people. No socializing. No compromising. No office politics.

After deleting all of that noise, what are you left with? Work. That matters. That’s it. Think about it: If that were YOUR work environment, you’d be pretty productive too. Remember: Productivity isn’t about what you do – it’s about what you avoid. What punches would you be blocking by going it alone?

.3. Teams are overrated. In Richard Hackman’s book, Leading Teams, he explains that people tend to think that teams are the democratic and efficient way to get things done. “When you have a team, the possibility exists that it will generate magic, producing something extraordinary and a collective creation of previously unimagined quality or beauty,” he says.

“But don’t count on it. Teams underperform, despite all the extra resources they have. Problems with coordination and motivation typically chip away at the benefits of collaboration. And even when you have a strong and cohesive team, it’s often in competition with other teams, and that dynamic can also get in the way of real progress.”

Hackman helps us realize that with teams, you often have two strikes against you right from the start. And that sometimes, having a team is often worse than having no team at all. Is your romantic notion of the value of teams shooting you in the foot?

4. He travels fastest who travels alone. Kipling made that statement in 1888. Over a century later, it still holds true. Imagine:

When you work alone, you always reach a consensus.
When you work alone, you know when you’re not producing.
When you work alone, you take more personal responsibility.
When you work alone, you can’t sit idly by as you contribute nothing.
When you work alone, you spend time (actually) thinking and not listening to others’ irrelevant, inconsequential and counterproductive thoughts.

I wonder how much faster you would move if you moved alone. Who is holding you back from being best, highest version of yourself?

5. More people equal less progress. In a 2009 issue of Machine Design, editorialist Leland E. Teschler explained, “Development teams are often an obstacle to creativity rather than a vehicle for truly elegant solutions. Many team members work at cross-purposes. That’s why throwing more people at a project frequently slows it down rather than speeds its completion.”

I agree. Productivity, schmoductivity. As I learned in the hysterical book, I Hate People, even studies from a century ago prove that individual productivity declines as teams expand. It’s an inverse relationship, and it’s devastating to your performance. What is blocking your creativity?

6. Teams degrade decision quality. In his classic 1972 work, Victims of Groupthink, Yale psychology researcher Irving Janis wrote that groups often breed a false confidence that leads to unsound decisions none of the individuals in the group would have made on their own.

As I’ve experienced in my work as a one-man show: When you work alone, you’re forced to believe something because you truly believe – not because the group says it’s so.

When you work alone, you have no choice but to decide with conviction and confidence, as opposed to following the herd. How many poor decisions have you made because you delegated your confidence to the group?

REMEMBER: More often than not, teams, partnerships and collaborations are overrated.

If the man who works alone can start today – and if the world is accelerating faster than ever before in history – it seems to make more sense (and more CENTS) to go it alone.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Do you really need a team?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “29 Pieces of Simple, Easy Advice That Will Change Your Business Forever,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur
[email protected]

Who’s telling their friends about YOU?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons on spreading the word!

Contrary to the actions of Will Ferrell, you don’t need to strip down buck nekkid and run around the room like a drunken maniac to steal the show.

Although that technique does work pretty well.

True show-stealers are the ones whose energy, attitude, actions and words compose a vortex into which surrounding people can’t help but be sucked.

Whether you’re giving a speech, facilitating a brainstorming session, conducting a meeting or hosting a teleconference, here are nine ways to steal the show without stinking up the room:

1. Ask the question. The key question that governs my daily decision-making is: “What could I do – in this moment – that would be the exact opposite of everyone else?” This mindset is rooted in your willingness to (not) acquiesce to the status quo. Zigging where they zag. Being the opposite.

Throwing a wrench of uniqueness into the gear of normality. If you want a move that’s guaranteed to attract the attention of the people around you, this is it. What questions do you ask yourself before making decisions?

2. Be a disturbance. When asked about how he experienced Leonardo Davinci’s art, mentor and contemporary Sandro Botticelli explained, “My heart seems to stop beating for a moment – then starts beating stronger and fuller.”

If you want people to say that about you, here’s the secret: Enter with boldness. Grate people’s nerves. Make them squirm in their seats. Send them on mental journeys. In short: Evoke emotion – don’t create sensation. How do you disturb people?

3. Prepare less. As my mentor once told me, “Eventually you get to a point where you don’t need to stay up all night rehearsing. Your life is your preparation.” The secret is learning to tap your reservoir of insight at a moment’s notice. Of course, this isn’t easy.

Not only does it require a constant inflow of inspiration and ideas into your life, but also the confidence and vulnerability to trust your inner resources. To believe with all your heart that you can respond intelligently and immediately to whatever is said.

This takes practice and practice and practice. Just remember: If you focus on living a beautiful, admirable and character-rich life – that you’ve consistently reflected upon – you won’t to have to steal the show because it will already be in your possession. What’s your preparation process?

4. Emit quiet strength. A strong falcon hides its claws. True strength isn’t manifested through visible, overt features; rather, it rises to the surface without being ostentatious. As Lao Tzu explains in The Tao De Ching:

“When you show your strength, you appear weak … when you conceal your power, the more effectively it can be used … when you make your advantage less obvious, the more effective you power becomes.”

Lesson learned: If you want to steal the show – be a sleeper. Be underestimated. How are you sneaking up on people?

5. Occasionally prove your ruthlessness. In Steve Pressfield’s The War of Art, he suggests the following:

“A professional doesn’t let his signature grandstand for him. His style serves the material. He does not impose it as a means to drawing attention to himself. This doesn’t mean that the professional doesn’t throw down a 360-tomahawk jab from time to time, just to let the boys know he’s still in business.”

Lesson learned: Have your death stroke ready to be delivered. Tap into the courage required by the moment with firm foundation and immediate intent. Are you prepared to be devastating?

6. Give yourself a preemptive internal standing ovation. Comedian and speaker Judson Liapply once told me, “You have to believe that you are the most important person talking in the room. That what you are saying is something that audience has to hear. Because if you don’t believe – neither will they.” Are you applauding internally before you take the stage?

7. Be a left fielder. When you make a comment or contribute an idea, begin your response with something seemingly unrelated and completely perpendicular to the topic at hand. Make people lean in and wonder, “Where the hell is he going with this?”

Then, at just the right moment, bring it back full circle. Drop a Michael Jordan style head fake. Sneak up on people with your unexpected response. This creates high impact and memorability through surprise. How often do you come out of left field?

8. Maintain a slightly skewed perspective on just about everything. A simple way to do so is to answer every question with, “Well, that depends on your definition of…” This type of thinking challenges people to reassess their baseline assumptions and return to the root of the word before assigning value to it.

It’s also a vocal hanger. A lean-in phrase. It leaves people on the edge of their seats, salivating for more, waiting to see what your definition of the word is. All you have to do is refuse to occupy the middle. How different of a dictionary are you using?

9. Command them eyeballs. Never underestimate the captivating power of props. Even if you’re not a visual person. This works. Try answering a question by excitedly taking something out of your wallet, bag, pocket or briefcase, and then showing it to your listener(s).

You’ll emit a sense of intrigue, mystique and delightful ambiguity. This is guaranteed to suck people into your vortex of fascination. Lean to be delightfully ambiguous. What do you do that makes people watch with breathless interest?

In conclusion, I’d like to share another passage from The Tao De Ching:

When you speak less, you say more.
When you don’t boast, you advance.
When you do less, you become more.
When you don’t make claims, you get credited.
When you show your strength, you appear weak.
When you argue the loudest, you appear the wrongest.
When you don’t display yourself, you become illuminated.
When you don’t define yourself, you become distinguished.
When you conceal your power, the more effectively it can be used.
When you make your advantage less obvious, the more effective you power becomes.

REMEMBER: You can still steal the show without stinking up the room.

No matter what Will Ferrell says.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you a show-stealer?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “27 Reasons People Aren’t Listening to You,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Who’s telling their friends about YOU?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons on spreading the word!