If you don’t know that the movie The Avengers is out and breaking all kinds of box office records, you simply have not been paying attention. For everyone else, rather than looking at it simply as 143 minutes of mindless entertainment (as great as that is), let’s consider what it says about what we believe about humanity, superegos, teamwork, and turning ‘it is all about me’ into ‘us’.
One of the biggest challenges any leader or coach faces is getting superheroes to work together. I hope none of us need to defend the human race anytime soon. But, what we saw in The Avengers is that a common goal, one that could not be attained by any one hero alone, forced them to be willing to work together as a group, but not a team – at first
Becoming a team meant they individually, had to figure out their role, where they fit and realize that team success also brought individual success. They had to be willing to have each other’s backs. To get there they had to bicker (okay, flat out fight) with each other. They had to learn each other’s strengths and decide they were willing to defend, support and (dare I say) help each other. Fortunately for them, Loki and his army waited to really attack until the team had their act together (oh yeah, it’s a movie and they can write it that way).
We obviously believe (to the tune of an expected $1 billion worldwide), that superheroes can work together. Even though there is evidence in many boardrooms and on too many sports fields that big egos would rather finger point in the press and tweet obnoxiously about their teammates. “Proving” you have to deal with drama queens, tantrums and narcissistic behavior if you have superpowers on your team.
Here is my question; do your earth changing projects have time built into them for your superegos, er… heroes, to determine how and where they fit in the puzzle? Do you have a Nick Fury to help them through the process? Well, maybe someone a little more keen on communication and productive conflict would be good. But you get my point. Or, do you throw your ‘stars’ at a problem with the assumption they’ll just make it happen?
When your Thor and Iron Man come to blows, do they come out hating or respecting each other? You might not be able to get a “volatile, self obsessed, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” to do something selfless that almost gets him killed. But you might be able to get him to play nice with others – so long as he understands what’s in it for him.
I have a kicker question – All of these superheroes are men, with the exception of one woman who made it through the glass ceiling (the discussion of how she got there and if she was really a hero would be a different post, stay focused). How would the teambuilding process be different if the heroes and egos were women with one man or at least 50% women? Here outside the movie theater, that is a very valid question.
What do you think the success of The Avengers says about how we believe teams are built and succeed? I believe we can learn from what we accept as possible in the movies to create amazing teams, even when the stakes aren’t quite as high as the domination and destruction of earth.
Am I crazy or am I right? Let me know in the comments.
Dr. Robyn Odegaard is the CEO/Owner of the speaking/consulting company Champion Performance Development, the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book ‘Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams’. She specializes in showing people how to use language powerfully to achieve more from their potential. You can invite her to speak to your group and inquire about her other services at www.ChampPerformance.com and order her book from www.StopTheDramaNow.com
Tags :Black Widow, Captain America, Champion Performance Development, Clint Barton, Clinton Barton, Doc Robyn, Hawkeye, iron man, Loki, marvel, Natalia Romanova, Natasha Romanova, robert banner, robert bruce banner, Robyn Odegaard, Steve Rogers, team building, team development, teambuilding, teamwork, The Avengers, the hulk, the incredible hulk, Thor, tony starks
Although I am not familiar with Avengers beyond the education provided in this article, I can relate through my musical experiences.
I know what it’s like to be a diva and be on a team and to work with both types of performing styles. Something magical happens when a person is in his or her element.
There is a place for divas who can take us to new heights, like the sound of Pavarotti or that high-energy violin battle between Karen Briggs and Shardad Rohani at the Yanni concert in the Acropolis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebi_IAb7Tkg, jump to 5:10 for the duet)
There is a place for team magic – picture a barbershop quartet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgCplSnUcdY
The key (no pun intended) just may lie in being establishing agreement at the outset on what style is called for from each person in the situation in order to be the most effective and have the most fun.
Indeed, team magic is amazing. Great things can be done when great talent is brought together – assuming of course the individuals can be taught or convinced to work together. Imagine if Briggs or Rohani decided their part was the most important part of the duet and tried to drown the other out. That would not make for the lovely piece you shared with us.
Thanks for your sharing your experience on this topic Jamie.
Doc Robyn,
Great post as usual. I would venture to say that in my experience working on teams, ego seems to be less of an issue when there are even 1 or 2 women on the team. All it takes is just that small injection of female sensibility and for some reason it helps balance out the team. I read a study recently that companies who had at least 1 woman on their board of directors tended to outperform companies that were all male. I wonder if this goes back to the ego thing?
That is an interesting point David. I wonder if Hollywood will give us an example of what it looks like when women work well together. They are SO good at showing us what it looks like when women don’t (Desperate Housewives, reality TV – Yikes!)
I not sure it is only male ego. I believe it is the way communication DNA for men is programmed to handle conflict. Given no other training – engage in the Iron Man and Thor style of conflict resolution.