Social Contracts: A Platform for Teamwork
Why are some teams successful while others struggle to deliver value? What does it mean to function as a member of a team?
I did not think much about teams or the ability to work in a team until I needed to find a new job while living in Germany after moving from Washington, D.C. roughly 8 months earlier. While searching the job listings, I was surprised to see almost every job listing included ‘Teamfähigkeit’ as a requirement. Teamfähigkeit translates to the ability to work and function in a team.
Aren’t working and functioning in a team the same thing?
Not necessarily. Working in a team refers to executing tasks as a member of a team. Functioning in a team includes cooperation and collaboration to deliver on a mandate. It requires the ability to alter your priorities to align with a mandate. In other words, you can work alone on a team or, to push the team closer to its goal, you can actively take on tasks, partner on tasks, and hand off tasks as needed.
During my undergraduate studies, I worked on many group projects. None of them would have been successful had we not worked side by side, exchanging ideas and supporting each other throughout the project. During my early career, projects where my teammates and I functioned as a team were the most successful and fulfilling. At the beginning of these projects, we relied on knowledge gained from our education and limited professional experience. We quickly implemented brainstorming sessions drawing on our different cultural and educational backgrounds to apply that knowledge. Our common motivation - delivering and curiosity - drove us to pair up or exchange tasks when someone was stuck or a different deadline needed to take priority. When we delivered the project, there was pride in what we had built and learned. Having this experience, I assumed the ability to function as a member of a team was a given and implicit requirement.
After spending 13 years living and working in Germany, I moved back to the U.S. and was surprised at how many software engineering teams functioned. Maybe the teams I encountered in the U.S. were outside the norm. These teams were collections of individuals working on individual projects and tended not to support each other. While the group had a goal, each individual was assigned isolated tasks. Individual delivery was celebrated instead of progress towards the goal. It should not be surprising that these teams struggled to deliver the correct thing on time. They should not have struggled as none of the teams were minimally staffed or part of an early-stage start-up working at breakneck speed.
What was different about the teams in Germany?
Before I answer, I want to clearly state that the teams I belonged to in Germany did not always deliver the correct thing on time. Their track record, however, was better.
The most obvious difference is in the job listing. Teamfähigkeit - the ability to function in a team - was considered extremely important for success and was, therefore, included in most job listings. The less obvious difference and more meaningful is the presence of an accepted social contract. Historically, Germany has elevated group culture over a culture of individuals. This might originate from the area’s feudal origins. We cannot ignore the negative role it played in the Third Reich or its role in East Germany. All that said, the elevated group culture is at the root of the German idea of a social contract, which has positive effects on teams.
What is a social contract?
A social contract is an implicit agreement between an individual and a group. It reminds individuals of their obligation to the group and the group of their reciprocal obligation. Software engineering teams demonstrate a social contract when all individuals go heads down on separate small tasks and regroup afterward to identify the next step toward their shared goal. When a team is ahead of the goal, room is made for individual interests not aligned with the shared goal.
We can see a social contract demonstrated in Germany’s professional sports teams. While the teams have their star players, the team is celebrated and criticized instead of the star players. During post-game interviews, the reporters ask about the team’s performance and the individual’s emotions. While the star athletes do not hesitate to show pride in their performance, they will thank the team for their performance and speak about how they could have supported the team better.
For a social contract to work, those involved must trust one another to act according to the contract and honor their obligations. Without trust, the social contract falls apart and the group returns to a collection of independent individuals.
It appears that with the correct social contract, a team will be successful.
Is there a social contract in the U.S.?
As U.S. Americans, we have been raised to act and think as individuals. Teamwork is not an elevated value in the U.S. Growing up we often heard the adage “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. This saying does not encourage mutual support. The lessons we learned and the phrases we repeatedly heard emphasize and embed the idea of independent contribution as the path to success. Our classic team sports are football and baseball. We celebrate the quarterbacks and the pitchers, even though they cannot win or lose a game on their own.
If you listen closely to post-game interviews with stars of well-performing teams, you will hear these athletes speaking about the whole team and their role in the team. The U.S. sports teams and their athletes have understood that success requires the team to work together. The same applies to our rags-to-riches stories that elevate a single person. When asked how they succeeded, the subjects of these stories will speak about their idea and those who supported them along the way.
Individuals can be successful. Stories abound about the westward expansion glorifying the self-reliant homesteader who built a ranch. Contrary stories also exist. Maybe more so. Working with others expands our knowledge and abilities. Working alone limits our success to our knowledge and skills. A quarterback might throw perfect long-distance passes but wobbly short-distance passes. If his receivers struggle to run the needed distance and the quarterback cannot adjust to the needs of his receivers, the team’s success and his will be limited.
Culturally, it can be difficult for us to put our desires behind those of a group, even temporarily. We learn to be independent from an early age. At the same time, we formed groups as school children to develop social connections and accomplish goals. As we mature, gaining trust takes longer and our interests take priority. Trust is a key factor in functioning in a team. The lack of an American social contract supports prioritizing our interests.
How do you establish a social contract AND celebrate the individual?
Human beings have a desire to be unique - somewhat different from other humans. We also want autonomy over our choices. The desires for uniqueness and autonomy push against a social contract elevating a group.
When all team members intrinsically value delivering the team’s mandate and view their contribution as essential, a social contract will establish itself over time. The team’s alignment around the mandate will drive celebrations of individual contributions as they serve to deliver the mandate.
Most teams, though, are composed of people with diverse backgrounds and opinions, including the value they place on the mandate. When not all members intrinsically value delivering the team’s mandate, the desire to differentiate oneself through one’s skills can establish common ground. A social contract centered on strengths and skill development allows social support and independent contribution. It recognizes each member’s uniqueness and autonomy. To establish the basis for this social contract, all team members must understand how their strengths propel the group forward, how the group magnifies their strengths, and how the group gives space for individual growth. Understanding how the individual and group needs intersect gives permission to continue celebrating the individual while supporting the group. Each team member can easily align their efforts around the team’s goal. When the team celebrates progress toward the goal, they celebrate each member’s contributions and their own.