Design is a Team Effort
Gordon L. Glegg is the name of a Cambridge University professor that penned a practical engineering series in the late sixties.
In this series he covered varying aspects of engineering education and engineering career or practice. In “The Design of Design” he declares the following:
Glegg is referencing three different “minds” or strengths in design efforts. He is pointing out the rare scenario where one individual can accomplish all three aspects of an engineering design. His point being—it takes a team to design well.
I agree with Glegg.
Design is a team effort.
It is not impossible for an engineer to design on his own; however, the likelihood that an excellent solution can be accomplished by one individual, limited to their own ability, is very low.
The reality of a design is that each of its parts is highly involved and specific but the aggregate of all of its parts is a grand design that functions like a well oiled machine to provide the necessary service. This is why a team matters.
Each specific part requires expertise in its own right and the unity of the design requires these experts to come together in unity to fit their pieces together and provide a masterpiece.
I submit to you today that in our own lives and in the Body of Christ, the same is true. We must be a team. Not individuals that congregate together; rather, experts leaning and moving with one another toward the common goal of Kingdom Increase. This makes the difference.
Why does a team matter?
The team matters because the fruit of an excellent design is the yield of excellent conditions.
Soil, roots, water, sun, placement, and even the nurturing hand of the gardener all produce the end result. Each part by itself would have little affect on the seed but in unison they produce a great tree with much fruit. The team is what brings the dream to reality.
More specifically to engineering design, rather than metaphor, is that of the designer, the quality control, the estimator, the engineer, and the manager. The manager is the guiding hand that knows a little about a lot to ensure that the pieces play well once brought back together. The designer knows the conceptual nature of the products and how to develop a solution. The quality control knows the intricacies and details of the designer who tends to forget about some of the specifications that may need refining or the tendency of the engineer to misspell the words.
While the engineer knows how and why the process and systems work the way they do and how to solve for the missing variable; it is the estimator who knows how to constrain the wild imagination of the designer by being the voice of budgetary reasoning that brings an applicability to the thing all together.
Overall, the team matters because without it there is no fruit. There is something produced but it is not useful or attainable. It is a jigsaw puzzle in a box. Lots of pieces and parts but all in disarray and existing on their own to be observed. It is only when put together that true beauty can be beheld. The team is what makes solutions actionable both in a practical and fiscal sense. Without the team you would still have all your problems; you would just also have very expensive wall art.
The Kingdom is the same way, if we are not working together as the Body of Christ then there are a lot of individual members who are suffocating without oxygen, dying without the life of the blood, and wandering with no direction or purpose from the nervous system.
We must ensure that we build up the body of Christ by recognizing, capitalizing, and celebrating the strengths that allow us to make a great impact on the world around us.
Building the Team
Building a quality team is the hallmark of excellent leaders. Its also the difference between getting a job done and making headlines for global impact.
Great teams are what make companies and organizations successful. Bad teams are what make some of the most promising inventions and products fall flat on their face and remove them from the mind of the consumer within a few measly moments.
How does any of this relate to our faith? Well, I am glad you asked.
The Apostle Paul writes of the Church and describes her as the body of Christ. We read that every member is fit together as one. So, how do you build the team? Looking at how the body functions is a great place to start.
Each part of the body works integrally with one another to ensure the function of the body remains active. The starting place is what unifies the team. The shared objective. The common goal. The unified effort toward one finish line. That must be the starting place for building the team.
In our lives that is the purpose and will of Jesus Christ: to seek and save that which was lost. The heart of the matter where the blood pumps from.
Who is on the Team?
When you begin with the shared goal, deciding who is on the team becomes much easier.
If the proposed team member does not share in the common goal or has motives that are for themselves rather than the mission, they are not a good fit for the team.
The team works in unity.
Each member understands their role and helps support one another when they can.
While walking the foot is the main source of balance; however, the arm will offer a support if something comes along to challenge that balance.
The arm is not trying to replace the foot by taking over its job, simply offering its strength and expertise by extending outward and counteracting the challenge that pushes against the support of the foot. It is ensuring that the body stays upright and keeps moving forward. No shame to the foot. No requesting a new foot. Simply supporting so that foot can get back to doing what it does best.
It is of the utmost importance that who joins the team understands that the commission is something accomplished together. Wins and loses are not individual but shared.
The team members that understand this must be added to the team. Once they have joined then it is time to determine why.
Why are they on the Team?
The purpose of a team member joining is to help achieve the goal. Although their purpose may not be clearly displayed upon their addition to the team they are joining to make progress.
Through serving and support it will quickly be revealed both what they are not meant to do and what they are meant to do.
This is where mistakes are often made.
The lesson of what we are not good at is just as important as what we are good at. The mistake is that we will often tie are value to the accomplishment or success of a task. That is not what is valuable. You are valuable. Learning you do not have the strength or skills to be the eye will help you not get so frustrated by trying to see what you are supposed to be feeling.
Leaders also have made big mistakes in this area by letting key team players go or removing them far too soon from the team because they are not doing well where they are placed. This does not mean they are not successful it means that they have be MIS-ASSIGNED. It is our responsibility as leaders to help them find the right assignment.
Soon enough strengths will be revealed.
Leveraging Strengths
And as life would have it, the strength of the persons that we are leaning on are often the areas where we are weak.
It is a selfish and insecure leader who relishes that they are the strongest person in the room rather than looking for team members that can make bolster their weak points.
This is what makes a team wildly successful.
Healthy understandings of each others strengths and weaknesses to be able to offer support, hold each other accountable, and become exponentially more powerful as three minds rather than one trying to do three things—as Glegg would suggest.
Once the teams is operating with shared understanding and leveraging each others strengths then the tree grows and fruit begins to bud.
The Fruit of the Team
The truth of any endeavor is that people are looking for results. When someone establishes a goal it is in purpose to get things done.
All work is being done to get some form of tangible results.
In our lives and in the Kingdom the word used for this is glory. It is the tangible manifestation of the interworking of God. The glory of God was visible to Israel in clouds, fire, Moses’ face, mana, and countless other scenarios.
As we strive toward the goal of Kingdom Increase there are tangible results or fruit.
The Production of Leaders
One key aspect in the Body of Christ working together is the production of leaders. The qualities of good leadership are ironically the commands of scripture.
Every self-help book and leadership philosophy, that has any merit, is tied in some way, shape, or form to Biblical principle. So, since the goal of our lives and the Body is discipleship, or learning to live more like Jesus, it would make sense that naturally leaders are produced.
As the Body works together it develops individuals into strong team players and leaders. Able to use influence and respect, appropriately, to serve, develop, and guide others. This is the reproduction of Paul’s admonition to follow him as he followed Christ.
At some point we all begin to say the same to someone in our lives. Whether it be our children, peers, co-workers, or friends. We produce leaders and those leaders produce more leaders.
It is the fruit of the Body, of the Team.
The Production of Solutions
Excellent teams produce excellent solutions.
Challenges are a fact of any effort. If you are trying to do something, anything, their will be challenges to be faced.
As the body of Christ and as teams working toward spreading the Gospel in an increasingly contrary culture their are challenges. I am not speaking of the rejection of Jesus Christ so much as I am the great disparity between our modern culture and the culture in which Jesus gave His instruction.
The principle of Jesus teaching is still alive and well, however, our modern western minds have trouble understanding the representations of gardeners, shepherds, and laborers. This major challenge presents many problems that can arise in modern discipleship. Thus the team.
The team must be able to identify, acknowledge, and overcome these challenges to be able to advance the Kingdom of God as we are called.
Teams with common purpose, shared understanding of the goal, and mutual trust can solve any challenge.
The conflict that would arise from such challenges can be easily and clearly communicated to produce EFFECTIVE solutions for the body of Christ. The team can clearly look at it from all angles discuss, without personal offense, ideological differences to ensure that the BEST solution is reached. This is the power of a team!
Teams produce solutions.
And in the case of the Kingdom, that usually means more teams.
The Production of Multiplication
This result of the team is where incredible and world-changing things begin to happen.
It is recorded in the corporate world rarely but it is seen in the massive booms of organizations that have no greatness or great product—simply excellent teamwork.
The increase exponentially that can only be explained as multiplication.
The fruit of the team is found in Deuteronomy 32:30
The Bible proclaims this astounding multiplication that brings about that happens at the teamwork of only two individuals. The secret however is the third team member. That has been the secret of this whole blog.
When God is on the team, the results and expectations are far above anything we could ask, think, or even imagine.
The Bible proclaims that this type of multiplication only happens when founded upon the Rock, capital “R.”
The Body of Christ is designed for multiplicative increase.
We must work together as a team to see the purpose of God fulfilled at its exponential promise.
Lean on one another, leverage each others strengths, and see the multiplication of the Lord. As the Spirit gives the increase.
Let's build together.