Teamwork Wins Championships--In Everything

Because it is game day for the Super Bowl, to start this piece using sports as an analogy for success seemed like the right thing to do. 

That said, as I watched the credits roll for a movie earlier this morning, it made me think about the recent Screen Actors Guild  Awards and People's Choice Awards. It takes more than good acting to make a movie. You could have the most talented producer or director in the business, but if the acting isn't just right, if the editing is done a certain way, if the music score is out of sync...the product will soon be forgotten. It takes a village and a leader to orchestrate all of the elements for a product to sing off the screen or page.

In publishing, the most talented author to ever bless this planet can pen the greatest book of all time but if it just sits in his computer, nobody will know about it. If nobody knows who this writer is, it will take great packaging to get the public's attention. Packaging isn't singular, it takes teamwork. The work needs editing...not just a once-over read and using Spell Check. You need a skilled graphic designer to create bug-free electronic files. You need someone who knows what they are doing to convert the files to an ebook format. You need to know how to tell people about the book without turning them off.

It is all an orchestrated dance to create a winning product, a winning business plan, a winning team. 

With all the elements in place, you may still miss out on the trophy, but if all the elements are there, and you keep doing all the things right, your chances of getting noticed and perhaps nominated are greater than if you use the "that's good enough" scenario.

Whatever the outcome of the Super Bowl, the losing team used the same amount of effort to get there. Things had to click in the right way. The same for the actors and directors who were nominated but not chosen for the awards. Being there meant they did something remarkable. 

Being remarkable may begin with showing up and assembling a team, but so much more goes into it.