Do you remember the game “tug of war?” As shown in the picture above, the game requires two teams and one rope. The rope has been marked with a white string. Each team pulls on their side of the rope, with the intention of getting that white string to cross over their respective cliff. The team that does so will win. Why they are playing this game on a cliff is beyond me! Do not try this!

In the picture, you can see that the lady on the left is about to win. How is this possible? She is the only one on her team. The opposing team has three people working together. Shouldn’t the team with more people win? Don’t teams perform better than individuals? 

You might expect that the team on the right should win. It has more people and should therefore have more strength, which is the key to winning this game. Here’s the thing, in this picture, the team of one (left) has more strength than the team of three (right). What this picture doesn’t tell you is that all three men are suffering from ailments such as arthritis and lower back pain. The surface they are standing on (Cliff B) is slippery and their sweaty hands are having trouble gripping the rope. Meanwhile the woman is standing on a surface with a great deal of friction. She has no physical ailments and she got ten hours of sleep last night. 

The men barely slept last night. For them, this is more than just a game, it’s a competition for the survival of their business. Losing this game means losing their company, their pay checks, and basically life as they know it. They are Scared and that is also affecting their performance.

This game is the final competition between these opposing businesses. The woman is clearly going to win. The men know it. One of them, Carl, didn’t even want to show up today. He’s been exhausted. He wanted to stay in bed. He didn’t, however, because he was taught that “there’s no I in team.” He was taught that he should sacrifice his needs for the greater good. Carl believed that his team needed him, even though he has the least amount of strength he’s ever had. He assumed that in his deminished state, he’d still be an asset to his team. After all, he had some strength, and some strength is better than none. In a game where total strength matters, Carl assumed that he should bring what little he had to offer.

What Carl didn’t know is that by showing up in his weakened state, he caused a net loss of strength for his team. Before the game began, the men won a coin toss, and were given a choice of which cliff they would stand on. Both teams were given an opportunity to asses the condition of each cliff. As, team leader, Carl was given pictures of each cliff, but he was so tired that he missed all of the slippery details of the cliff he chose. 

This decision would seal the men’s fate, but it didn’t have to be this way. The men could have won this game, if they had first paid attention to their individual physical conditions. All three had lower back pain, but it was mostly due to muscle stiffness. Time spent using a foam roller or stretching would have solved that issue. If Carl had stayed home, Larry would have been team leader. Because Larry is a master at attention to detail, he would have noticed the slippery conditions on cliff B, and he would have chosen cliff A. The two men on a more frictional surface would have won the game.

Most have us have surely learned that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” A team is only as strong as its weakest member. Most of us have been conditioned to self sacrifice for the greater good. It feels noble and sometimes, after long struggles, it can produce something good. Here’s the thing, the result from sacrifice and struggle pales in comparison to what results when strong, self fulfilled people come together for a greater purpose. 

So what do you do if you feel that you are on a team that is lacking in performance? Embrace The “I” In Team. It’s always important to start with personal growth. Have you ever been on an airplane and been advised that in an emergency you should put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others? Help yourself first. It will make you feel great and it will improve your ability to find solutions. Through this personal growth, you will find that your ability to influence for the greater good is strengthened. Here’s how it works…

In the 1940s, psychologist Abraham Maslow, defined a hierarchy of human needs that would lead to what is called “self actualization.” A self actualized person is at the top of their game. People who are self actualized feel amazing! They are highly motivated and they are incredibly effective. The woman in the tug of war game was self actualized, and therefore stronger than the three men who weren’t. By satisfying your own basic human needs, you are self actualizing. Once you’ve self actualized, you are unstoppable! 

Maslow defined these basic human needs and suggested that they, for the most part, needed to be satisfied in order. The needs are…

1. Physiological: Air – Water – Food – Shelter – Sleep – Reproduction
2. Safety: Personal Security & Resources
3. Love and Belonging: Friendship – Intimacy – Family – Connection
4. Esteem: respect – high regard – recognition – freedom

Fully satisfying these four needs will lead to self actualization, the desire to be the best a person can be. Generally the needs should be satisfied in order, however it’s important to focus on fully satisfying these needs.

Anytime you are feeling less than at the top of your game, take a look at these needs and ask yourself if your needs have been satisfied. You can use this like a check list. Find out what you need more of and give that to yourself. Yes; you are capable of satisfying all of your needs and it’s crucial that you do. Try this for a day. Ask yourself which of your needs aren’t met and meet those needs. You will be amazed by the results!

-Mike Humphreys