Last week, Joey Digital had an interesting Facebook status on teams in business. His status update spurred a mild debate on the importance of teams relative to “good ideas” in the “success” of businesses. His status read:
Joey Digital for my peeps who are looking to start a company, building your team is THE thing you must get right. pls read this –> http://bit.ly/MjFy9
These are the comments that followed (some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
Jane Smith at 9:42am May 29
I was telling my homegirl that a few months ago!
Jarel Cockburn at 11:19am May 29
Very True, I work by a simple equation (A team + B idea) > (B team + A idea)
Joey Digital at 11:22am May 29
@jarel: i learned from you!
Joe Smith at 12:12pm May 29
This supports my personal stance on why many things have been successful (an also unsuccessful) at FAMU … be it in adminstration, student organizations or classroom assignments. If the team you put together isn’t solid, it all is going to fall down. No matter how good the product, service or ideas you have to offer.
Joey Digital at 12:55pm May 29
@jarel: i’d like to think that an A+ team + C idea > B team + A idea
Scott Blue at 1:01pm May 29
i’m not sure if I agree with that last statement… sure the team would get along a bit better… but the ‘idea’ is whats holding it down .. or in logic terms: aT + cI == bT + aI; they both equal bP, a B Project.
Joey Digital at 1:04pm May 29
@scott: real life example is twitter. it isn’t the most mind-blowing concept in the world, but the founders have serious connects, hella money, and a proven record of success with their sale of blogger to google.
Scott Blue at 1:43pm May 29
because twitter isn’t, to you, a ‘mind-blowing concept’ does that constitute it as anything less than an A for an Idea? It’s beauty is in it’s simplicity. To me, a more suitable example would be quizlet.com vs. studyblue.com: it’s a simple idea, flash cards for studying. quizlet being a one man show vs. studyblue’s think tank and Superior team. However Quizlet > Studyblue. (at least in my opinion)
Joey Digital at 1:58pm May 29
@scott: true, but my point is that ideas are a dime a dozen. it doesn’t matter unless you execute them…well.
Scott Blue at 2:34pm May 29
I agree
Jarel Cockburn at 3:04pm May 29
Love the conversation! At the end of the day its all about execution.
There was more to the conversation and this debate can go on forever but in my experience whether it is the consolidation of check cashing operations or Twitter, businesses with great teams win at a greater percentage relative to sub par teams. A great idea can only become a great business if it is actually executed on well.
Thoughts, questions concerns?
Photo credit: J.H.Gray
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thanks, I am planning to do some follow-up posts on building teams, finding the right folks, structuring vesting for prospective team members and keeping team members engaged and productive.