Stand Out, Fit In: Individuality Vs Team Conformity

When aiming at team conformity, there’s no ‘I’ in team.

Well, yes there is, Sigmund! As a matter of fact, there are a lot of ‘I’s in TEAM. And that’s because a team is made up of individuals. Duh!

And I know the connotation of the popular phrase refers to the selfishness that sometimes permeates certain team members, and we all so desperately want to repel. “If everyone works well together, with no hidden agendas, then things will be rosy!”, said every team-building company in the world.

But I would argue that you want some selfishness to a degree, in any team. You want some individuality. Some fiery individual differences and personality clashes and even friction.
Otherwise, what? Do we really want corporate teams to be blobs of sameness? Do we really want to be promoting blind conformity to the team?

If that’s the case, then that cool quote from Aristotle “The totality is not, as it were, a mere heap, but the whole is something besides the parts” goes right out the window, doesn’t it?

If conformity to a team is the ultimate, then the team’s strength will just be a simple mathematical addition of each team member’s skills, knowledge, and experience. What a shame. All that potential, wasted.

But, if we embrace and foster individuality in a team, then the team as a whole might become something extraordinary, stronger than its strongest team member, for sure!

Conformity and Compromise

So, what’s a team? For me, it’s a bunch of individuals, everyday people, each with their own superpowers and irritating habits, who are unified in drive and purpose, but, most probably, nothing else.

You might be constantly bickering with your team member Sally because she never takes notes during the meeting, or arguing with Harry sometimes because he has an annoying (to you) habit of tapping his index finger on his lips when he is thinking.

But, when shit hits the fan and the team needs to get together to get something done, all that ‘stuff’ gets swept off the table, and everyone focuses on the job to be done.

That’s a team! A team during everyday work life. It’s people dealing with people. Is it conformity? Putting up with each person’s shit and embracing their superpowers. It’s about compromising to others sometimes, or having others compromise to you, to an extent. Not all the time, not all the way (being selfish to a degree is probably a good thing, if it means you’re driven to shine). There are plenty of ups and downs. Just like normal life, and just like normal everyday interactions with all the people you know in your life.

Trust? Yes, needs to be there. Respect? Sure, it’s a must. Good communication? Empathy? Resilience? Listening? Understanding? YEEEEES. But all this blah blah comes with time.

If people are not allowed to be themselves, to express themselves according to their instincts and personas, then we’re just creating teams of clones and fake relationships (think crocodile smiles and groupthink for a second). You see, standing out and fitting in are not at odds with each other; they both create the necessary motion for teams to move forward successfully. Conformity and individuality are tools.

If John (just someone) can’t put up with peoples’ individual differences (the good and the bad!), then John has no business working in a team. And no amount of pushing from management, or exquisitely tailored training programs, will ever make the team with John in it, amount to anything more than the actual sum of its parts. If that!

Team conformity? It’s a joke. Should be a meme, actually!