While attending the Kodak Executive Summit today in San Antonio I was inspired to write this quick post about the use of a small team to accomplish something that was almost impossible for a single person 
It reminded me of a quote by Margaret Mead about the power of small groups.
The Solo Effort vs. The Teamlet
The Experiment: One person was asked to memorize a series of numbers in just a few seconds.
Imagine the series of numbers below was shown to you for 10 seconds and you had to recite the numbers back.
Could you do it?
| 7795 | 4283 | 1592 | 9210 | 8623 | 5575 |
Well, as expected, it was almost impossible. So, one by one team members that work with the Solo person were called up to help show that a small group, a Teamlet, could achieve this task. Seven people in all were called up.
In less than 30 seconds the Solo person assigned everyone just one section of the numbers to remember. Then when called upon they were to recite the numbers in their section. It worked! The Teamlet was able to recite the numbers in order.
Working Together Worked!
Not that remembering a series of number is going to change the world. The point of this exercise and Margaret Mead’s quote are that a small group with a focused effort can achieve more. I agree.
Thinking Points
- Have you ever had a Teamlet that helped you solve something that you could not easily do yourself?
- When is it better to do something solo?
I have spent the better part of the last 20 years working in various aspects of the ECM industry. I am currently with Kodak as a Director of Business Development. In my past I have spent time at Kofax, Microsoft, FileNet, K2, and at Captaris (which was acquired by Open Text in Nov 2008). Prior to that I was a Unix VAR running my own company. Follow me on Twitter, check my blog, send email or find me on Facebook or LinkedIn.
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