The ME in TEAM

"There is no 'I' in TEAM but there is ME." -Joseph Primm

It is an old team building phrase that says there is no 'I' in 'TEAM'. It is used to ensure everyone has a common goal or purpose. If a team executes as individuals, it is bound to failure. But if everyone works together then success has a much higher probability.

My version of the saying is meant to indicate that you are important to the team. Whether it be an organization of one hundred people at work or one of two people in a marriage, 'ME' matters. Your contribution to the goals being pursued by the larger group is critical.

The 'teams' you are important to can be formal ones; church, marriage, family, work, or bowling league. The 'team' might be an informal one such as your community, social network, or even the traffic on the highway.

Each part of these requires your participation. Everything you do or contribute has a direct impact on the success or failure of that team.

So the 'ME' in 'TEAM' does matter. You matter.

Sigma Significance

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." -Mohandas K. Gandhi

In the world of statistics, a result is referred to as "statistically significant" if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. So the amount of proof that is needed to accept that an event has happened due to chance is known as the significance level.

In some fields this statistical significance is measured in units of "σ" (sigma). It is meant to show how much variation there is from the average or expected value.

Wow, I actually remembered something from statistics class in college AND managed to bore you at the same time.

My purpose here is not to teach statistics nor is it to bore you. My purpose is to let you know that the significance of one may seem insignificant on the surface. But what you do in life matters to so many others in unexpected ways.

There are variations on this idea and many times put into movies. Think of "Its A Wonderful Life" or the book "The Butterfly Effect"; your life matters in ways you may never fully realize, but it does.

What this means to me is that in statistics the value of one is generally considered insignificanct. But in our every day lives, significance of anything has to start with one, then two, three, four, ...

It means that you matter, you are significant. Everything you do puts other things in motion that cause very significant things. A pebble in the water creates ever increasing rings or waves. These spread out from the center growing ever larger. Eventually these waves wash ashore a sea shell found by a child, brightening and changing that child's life forever.

Yes, you matter even though it may seem insignificant. Remember what Gandhi said, "Whatever you do will be insignificant...", but everything you do will be important.

One Degree

"It takes only one person with one match to light one candle to fill an entire room with hope." -Joseph Primm

There is a principle called "212" or sometimes "211 to 212". It is a pretty simple concept to grasp and has to do with the boiling point of water. As we all have learned, water reaches a boiling point at 212 degrees Farenheit. It is the point at which water begins to change form.

One degree less and the water is just very hot. Nothing more then that and not at the point at which water is transformed. Water begins to change from a liquid to a vapor. The boiling point creates the ability to sterilize and ward off bacteria. It is a point where everything can change.

But stop short at 211 degrees Farenheit and nothing happens. One degree, one more step, one more person. The principle of 212 means to go that one extra step, to go where change will happen in your life. But I think its significance is in the one degree.

That one degree is you. You can make the difference between nothing and something. You can make the difference that changes everything. You can be that one degree.

You

The significance of you and your ability to make a difference. Coming soon!

Until then, read Leading Change again and know that you are the type of person that can do it.