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O P I N I O N
Team vs. family The concept of a work family is nice. The problem is, you’re stuck with family, good or bad. With a team, you can pick and choose.
O n many occasions, we’ve heard office culture described as a family. This sounds like a great concept to embrace. But is it really the best thing for our companies?
In most places, a family represents a unit where there is unconditional love, unconditional understanding, and no sin so great that one would be excommunicated. Even if our family member is in jail for a heinous crime, they’re still our blood relatives. They’re still family. In contrast, a team is built to achieve a desired outcome, and with that outcome, we have expectations that must be filled in order to remain a member of the team. Teams must always be looking to find key additions, make timely subtractions, and know when to make substitutions in order to increase performance. Families don’t work that way. Do you remember the name of the player that Kevin Durant replaced when he joined the Golden State Warriors? Who cares? That wasn’t the point of the hire. The point was to make the Golden
State Warriors better. Do you think the rest of the Warriors sat around bemoaning the loss of a mediocre power forward, or did they perk up with the prospect of a selfless league MVP joining their starting lineup? “Teams must always be looking to find key additions, make timely subtractions, and know when to make substitutions in order to increase performance. Families don’t work that way.” Just because you’re on the team today, does not guarantee you’ll be a team member tomorrow. Like
Will Schnier GUEST SPEAKER
See WILL SCHNIER, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 30, 2017, ISSUE 1222
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