Chapter One
Albert was livid. Absolutely livid.
"How could they?" he said to himself. "How couldthey ask me, how could they ask anyone with any intelligencewhatsoever, to put up with this kind of treatment?"
The young man was seething as he slammed into hischair and assaulted his computer. If the mouse had been alive one, it surely would have suffered whiplash from Albert'sjerking as he whipped it back and forth across the mouse padto disengage his computer's screen saver and cause the menudisplay to pop onto the screen.
Albert quickly scrolled the cursor to his Internetbrowser icon and double clicked. He tapped his right heelup and down and glared off into the opposite side of his officecubicle, fuming as he waited for the computer to bringup his designated home page.
His anger slowly gave way to fear and a deep, gutwrenchinganxiety as he continued to reflect on what hadjust happened. His stomach began to tie up in knots as he realizedthat his second experience in working with groupshad quickly become worse than his first.
The first "Tiger Team" they had assigned him to hadbeen bad enough. But fortunately—both for Albert and theother team members—the assignment had been a short one.The work was for the most part completed by the time Albertjoined the group. Albert's contribution wasn't critical tothe outcome, but was important to the project's overall success.The good news was that although Albert's piece was indeedchallenging, it didn't require too much collaborationwith the others on the team.
From the beginning Albert felt that the other TigerTeam members weren't very friendly. They were congenialto each other, but never really warmed up to him. Evenmore important, though, he felt they didn't show enough respectfor his intellect or his ideas. Deep down inside he knewhe was smarter than all but one, and he could certainly holdhis own with her. Worse yet, they were almost arrogantabout the work they had already accomplished, even thoughAlbert was confident he could have done a better job.
However, strained feelings and underlying tensionsaside, the team and Albert finished the project before anyone'semotions festered to the boiling point. Albert wentback to his own work, relieved the project was over. He wasthankful he could work alone without having to worryabout all the hassles, frustrations, and endless, time-consumingdelays of dealing with a bunch of groupies whowere more interested in what everybody else was doing thanthey were in getting the job done.
Then came this second Tiger Team.
Even the term Tiger Team rubbed him the wrong way.What was it supposed to mean? Albert suspected it was justa form of manipulation to get people to think they werespecial if they did something with a bunch of other people.
Well, Albert didn't feel special. In fact, working in agroup just gave him a headache.
Why couldn't they just tell people what was needed, divvy upthe work, and then let them go do it?
No, that'd be too easy, he reflected.
Albert's frustration with this second team had set inearly. The team had started off in what Albert considered tobe the wrong direction. He thought they were trying to satisfytoo many people with the design, thereby making thefinished product much too complicated.
When they told him they had to follow that approachbecause it was specifically spelled out in the team's charter,he clammed up. Have it your way, he thought smugly to himself.You'll see.
The next uncomfortable moment was triggered in theteam's second meeting when Albert told the team leader hisname was "Albert—not Al. Two syllables, not one." He momentarilyfelt a little guilty that the team leader had beenembarrassed when Albert corrected him in front of everyone.But only a little guilty. He thought it insulting that theguy couldn't even refer to him by his correct name.
And now this.
Each of the team members had agreed to complete anassignment during the three-week time period between thesecond and third meeting. Then they would get back togetherat the third meeting and piece things together to laythe foundation for the rest of the project.
After starting his work according to the criteria thatthe group had agreed upon, Albert came up with a betteridea. He refocused his efforts and put all his energy into developingthis new idea. For the past two weeks, he workedday and night, and even gave up both weekends. With theexception of a couple of hours on Saturday and Sundaywhen he played Frisbee with his pet Australian shepherd,Digger, he worked nonstop. He was eager for everyone tosee how much better his plan was.
He prepared a presentation to deliver to the group atthe beginning of the third meeting. He even titled it "ABetter Way," so they would get the point quickly and notwaste any more time following the mediocre direction theyhad originally—and by Albert's judgment, mistakenly—taken.He even rehearsed the presentation a few times infront of Digger, who enthusiastically barked his approval.
Albert had stayed up all night working to fine-tune hisspeech and was in the office early that morning, eager topresent his ideas to the other team members.
Then came the meeting.
As soon as the group had exchanged their usual pleasantries,Richard, the project leader, outlined his agenda. Albertinterrupted to ask if he could take a few moments toaddress the group before they started work on the agenda.He assured them they'd be pleasantly surprised and wouldconsider it time well spent.
The group consented.
Albert proceeded to outline his ideas and the plan hehad spent the past two weeks perfecting.
To say the presentation didn't go well would be a considerableunderstatement.
As soon as he started to explain how his idea was superiorto the one the group conceived, the team membersbegan to withdraw. Some folded their arms. Faces turned serious;some were even grim. The overall reaction was decidedlynegative.
When team members started questioning the reasonsfor some of Albert's suggestions, Albert became defensiveand pushed even harder to convince the group that his waywas a better way. He raised his voice, impatient to get hispoint across, but the louder he spoke, the louder thedissenting team members protested. The meeting quickly becamea classic power struggle.
And Albert lost. Big time.
He not only lost the argument, but he lost his cool.
Albert's composure was annihilated as he stormed outof the conference room in a huff—an angry, contemptuoushuff—that left a wake of ruffled emotions and unresolvedconflict.
So now here he was. Mindlessly surfingthrough cyberspace, contemplating his situation, and wonderingwhy some people were so hard to get along with.
Albert longed for a return to the days when he was incollege. Albert had graduated cum laude from the Universityof Northeastern Michigan (UNM) with a bachelor of sciencedegree in computer engineering. He graduated in threeyears instead of the usual four or five like most studentsthese days. Albert would have been the valedictorian theyear he graduated had it not been for his less-than-stellargrades in his humanities classes. In the classes he reallyliked—those that focused on computers, math, and science—thecollege classroom environment served him well.He studied hard, went to class, locked into each professor'sdelivery, and filed away everything he learned in hiscomputer-like brain. Albert could memorize formulas, equations,and programs, and could always come up with theright answers. He would do his work, study hard, and wassolely responsible for his academic success.
At graduation time Albert was recruited heavily andwas quickly hired by United Global Advance Technologies,better known as UGAT. UGAT is a Chicago-based hightechnology company with worldwide operations. He settledin quickly and rapidly gained notoriety as the company'sbrightest rising star.
Ten months later he was assigned to his first TigerTeam. The team was brought on board to help complete thecompany's hottest and most important project.
Albert felt his contribution was minor because he wasput on the project so late in the game, but because he crossedthe finish line with the group, he was included in the recognitionfor the project's success. In fact, he even received specialrecognition for getting up to speed no quickly andhelping out at the last minute.
That's why Albert's department head, Megan Godwine,had assigned Albert to be on this current project fromthe beginning. It was a terrific opportunity—one that wouldhave normally been reserved for a more senior and experiencedperson. But Albert had established himself with hiswork on the first team and Megan felt this second teamwould be a great chance for him to proceed on the fasttrack. Megan seemed to genuinely want to see Albert succeed.She was the person who recruited him and urged himto come on board at UGAT She was also a graduate ofUNM and in fact had first learned about Albert throughher old professors. As a department head, she was constantlyon the lookout for top talent, and the professors knew it.They enthusiastically recommended Albert to her andMegan immediately recognized his potential. Now she offeredhim what she thought to be the opportunity of a lifetimeand he wanted out.
What should I say when I meet with her in the morning? Albertasked himself. He and Megan had an appointmentscheduled for 8:00 A.M. so he could debrief her on the projectand how it was going.
Until now he had been looking forward to the meeting,confident he'd be able to tell her all about how he hadreshaped the project direction and really made a difference.But now all he could think about was how to tell her hewanted a different assignment.
He couldn't work with these people. Not now. Notafter they had completely humiliated him by rejecting hisideas without even so much as a hint of reasonable consideration.Why couldn't they just put their egos aside and listen, evenjust a little? Most of them had stopped listening in the first threeminutes! There's no way she could expect him to take that. It wasa sign of disrespect and an indication that they didn't want to workwith hint.
Maybe it's because I'm still one of the new people aroundhere, he thought. But it's wrong for them to treat me that way, evenif I am new. Besides, don't they get it? It's the ideas that matter, notme. I'll bet if any one of them had the same idea, they'd think itwas great. They're just intimidated by someone my age being so farahead of them. They're trying to teach me a lesson, make me paymy dues.
Well, they can have their lesson, he thought. Tomorrowwhen I meet with Megan, maybe I should just tell her to tell themthat they can take that attitude and my job on this Tiger Team andshove it.
One thing he was certain of was that he was not goingto let Megan think any of this was his fault. Even though hesuspected that the knot in his stomach was at least partlycaused by the knowledge that in some way he had provokedthe team's reactions, he didn't want to admit that to Megan.
No, he thought. In as polite and respectful a manner as possible,I'll just ask her to take me off the team. Maybe there's anotherteam with different people she can assign me to. But what I'd reallylike to do is work alone.
Albert went home and took Digger for aromp in the park. However, playing with Digger didn't takehis mind off his problems. After a sleepless and fitful night,Albert showed up at Megan's office at 8:00 sharp, dreadingtheir meeting but wanting to get it over with.
Albert had developed two possible lines of reasoning topresent to Megan about why it would be better for him tonot continue with the Tiger Team.
First was that he didn't fit in because of his age. Theother team members were all older, had been with the companylonger, and considered themselves more experienced.Second, his intelligence made others jealous and competitive.It was obvious that he was smarter than most of them.His superior intelligence made it hard for them to accepthim. He had run into this before. As soon as he opened hismouth, others would try to one-up him to prove how smartthey were. People felt threatened by him, which often resultedin a battle of wills and feelings of resentment. This wasexactly what was happening with this Tiger Team.
The problem was he didn't think it would be good toshare either of these thoughts with Megan. Definitely notthe intelligence theory. He knew from experience that if heraised that issue the conversation would most likely shiftfrom intelligence to ego and all that psychological stuff thathe hated. Besides, he thought, I don't have any ego problems. AllI want is to be able to do a good job and have everyone else do agood job, too.
He didn't want to get into the age issue, either. He'd alwaysbeen ahead of his age. He was typically the youngestperson in most of his technical classes. Over time he'd cometo expect that a few people in every group would resent himbeing so bright and young. Long ago he had decided to ignorethem. If they had a problem, let it be their problem. Hewasn't going to let it be his.
Why is it so hard to connect with other people? he asked, forat least the thousandth time in his life. Why don't other peopleget frustrated trying to get their ideas across? Or do they? Again,as he had many times before in his life, he retreated quicklyfrom this line of thought. No sense wasting time in speculation.
After saying good morning, he started by tellingMegan that after having been to a few of the Tiger Teammeetings, and looking at the work the team was pursuing,he felt his talents could be better used elsewhere. He evenhad a proposal for a new project he could work on by himself.It took him about ten minutes to explain all this, whileMegan just listened. She was a good listener, asking questionsto clarify certain things Albert had said, and she took a lotof notes.
When Albert was finished outlining his proposal, heasked what she thought.
"Well," she responded, "I'm somewhat surprised atwhat you're proposing. But I was warned that you wouldn'tbe feeling totally pleased about the way things are going."
"What do you mean?" Albert responded. "I've beenworking hard on this project."
"I know. I've noticed. But Richard called me at homelast night to tell me about yesterday."
"It's no big deal."
"Richard has some major concerns. He said the wholeteam was upset, and that you got really emotional."
"That's all the more reason my proposal makes sense.Richard can find someone else to do my job, I'll go work onthis other project, and everyone will be happy."
"It's not that easy, Albert. Richard said that as the projectmanager, he's had concerns about your ability to getalong with the team members since the beginning. He wasgoing to wait for one more meeting to come and talk to me,then this happened. But this is not something we can call justnot getting along. What happened yesterday is much moreserious."
"So what does that mean? Are you going to fire me?"Albert's impatience began to show.
"Whoa, not so fast." Megan was caught off guard byAlbert's cutting reply. "We need to talk about this."
"There really isn't that much to talk about." Albert answeredback. "Your Tiger Team wants to do its thing withoutme, and I like working by myself, so why not just do itthat way and make everybody happy?"
"Because I wouldn't be happy, and the company'sneeds wouldn't be getting met."
"I don't get it."
"Albert, you were assigned to the team for two reasons.First, because of what you can contribute to the project,but second, because it's a nice career step for you."
"I'm not the only one who can contribute. And besides,they don't want my contribution. So why not getsomebody else? Isn't that the easiest way?"
"The easiest way isn't always the winning way," Meganexplained. "It's my job to see we do things the best way possible."
"Best for who?"
"If it isn't good for everyone, and especially the company,then it probably isn't the right way for anyone."
"What about me? Do I count as part of everyone? Becauseif I do, I'd just as soon work by myself."
"You're definitely part of everyone. But it sounds tome like you really need to think through your perspective—bythat I mean how you relate to everyone and what the natureof your relationship should be."
"What's wrong with 'I do my work and they dotheirs?' That way the work gets done and everything's awhole lot less complicated. Besides, weren't we all hired forthe same reason? For our technical expertise?"
"You were hired to produce results for UGAT. Andthroughout your career many of the results you'll be requiredto produce will be with and through other people—eitheras a team member, part of a network, or perhaps lateron as a leader."
Both sat in silence as Albert thought for a momentabout what Megan had just said.
"These weren't the things we talked about when youhired me."
Continues...
Excerpted from Winning Waysby Dick Lyles Copyright © 2000 by Dick Lyles. Excerpted by permission.
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