Comments on: Teamwork is a great way to sidestep office hierarchy http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2006/08/09/teamwork-is-a-great-way-to-sidestep-office-hierarchy/ Advice at the intersection of work and life Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:28:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Norcross http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2006/08/09/teamwork-is-a-great-way-to-sidestep-office-hierarchy/#comment-110148 Norcross Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:07:59 +0000 http://lolindrath.dyndns.org/lolindrath/wordpress/2006/08/09/teamwork-is-a-great-way-to-sidestep-office-hierarchy/#comment-110148 I've become quite a fan of your blog recently, but I have to take exception to this post. While teamwork and collaboration is extremely helpful and appropriate in some cases, it's overused and detrimental in others. I still remember the push in school to "work in groups" when the assignment had no reason for it whatsoever. In my experience, situations where creativity is key, the more minds the better. But, take tasks that are very analytical and numbers-oriented, and each additional voice increases the chance for error. And that's not even mentioning the 'groupthink' mentality and ability for natural leaders to pass the buck (and responsibility) to others. All in all, teamwork needs not to be used in every situation. I've become quite a fan of your blog recently, but I have to take exception to this post. While teamwork and collaboration is extremely helpful and appropriate in some cases, it's overused and detrimental in others. I still remember the push in school to "work in groups" when the assignment had no reason for it whatsoever.

In my experience, situations where creativity is key, the more minds the better. But, take tasks that are very analytical and numbers-oriented, and each additional voice increases the chance for error. And that's not even mentioning the 'groupthink' mentality and ability for natural leaders to pass the buck (and responsibility) to others.

All in all, teamwork needs not to be used in every situation.

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