Team Networks --> Team Chemistry

Teams are not made of talent alone.

It is how the talents of individual players intersect and interact that distinguishes a good team from a collection of good players. From the New England Patriots, to the Detroit Pistons, to the Chicago White Sox -- teams without a superstar at every position win championships.

Vancho Cirovski, my friend and client, saw the power of team chemistry on the field as an expert soccer player and in the executive suite as a VP of HR. He believes that team connectivity and communication distinguishes the great teams from the also-rans.

After experiencing success with social network analysis [SNA] in the workplace, Vancho wondered if SNA could be applied equally well to sport. His brother, Sasho, was coaching a Division I NCAA Men's Soccer team -- University of Maryland Terrapins -- that was struggling. Following a rise to a level of success the "Terps" were in a "funk", as all teams are bound to be. Could it be they had enough talent, but that the team chemistry was wrong? Sasho was willing to "think outside the box" for a solution.

Vancho and I took an organizational network survey and adapted it to team sports. We divided the questions to cover both on-field and off-the-field team chemistry. We included questions that would reveal emergent leadership on the team. To make a long story short, the year following the SNA intervention, the team that was rich in talent, now had their chemistry balanced, and the results were obvious. They won the NCAA Championship!

The full story is here. Vancho, and his brother Sasho, are written up in the current Business Week special issue on Competition -- Game Plan: First Find the Leaders

UPDATE #1: US Basketball Team Lacks "Chemistry" ends up with "Le Bronze" in World Basketball Championships. More proof that the star strategy often does not work as expected. A team loaded with NBA stars, including the great LeBron James of Cleveland, cannot beat all European teams, with no stars but lots of chemistry.

UPDATE #2: Superstar NY Yankees lose again! The team with the highest payroll, and the best hitting line-up in baseball, is eliminated early from the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers [no superstars]. Expect a big shake-up in the off season for the NY Yankees... but will it result in better chemistry???

UPDATE #3: Once again, the Yankees lose! The team with the highest payroll, and still the best hitting line-up in baseball, is eliminated early from the playoffs again -- this time by my hometown Cleveland Indians[no superstars]. The Indians payroll is 1/4 that of the Yankees. The Yankees follow a strategy that fails them in the playoffs year after year. One of our faults, as humans, is we have a difficult time unlearning -- especially those things that bring us some success but do not allow us to reach our goals.

This NY Times article explains how the Yankees have a 'decentralized' team with no strong leader. Maybe that works when things are going well, but fails them in times of adversity when a strong emergent leader may help?

Originally published on August 11, 2006