Against TeamWork

I just had a conversation with someone who I work with on a routine basis about Teamwork.He casually but purposefull quoted me the recent NBA win of Detroit Pistons over LA lakers as a tribute to teamwork.Hmm..I didnt really agree with him.

When I watch the game its for those wonderful shots played by Kobe or SHaq or anyone with a skill to amaze.For that matter watching Sachin Tendulkar blasting away is a sheer treat to a cricket lover.The same went for those Wimbledon finals when Boris Becker was at mercurial on the center court.There is a subtle apples and oranges comparsion here.Cricket,Basketball and Soccer are team sports that should not be on par with games like tennis(except for doubles matches!).

I am not against teamwork per se.Chicago Bulls were a team but for most part they maximised the effectiveness of Jordan,Pippen and Rodman.Its that quality of talent which when roams free is festive.The same applies in the tech field when the Software Engineering guru Fred Brooks did his seminal paper "No SIlver Bullet" where he said Software is a talent based industry with some prgrammers 10-50 times productive than their peers and in no way could we expect to reach a goal by adding more people or encouraging communications that foster teamwork.

Let me take examples of Teamwork in sports.German soccer is meticulous and methodical in attack(Lotha Mattheus and Klinsmann made this differ in 1986-90) but it is usually the South American teams that are a popular favorite given the zest and people like Maradona,Romario and Ronaldo to name a few.Australia was known for its teamwork and is very succesful in reaching its goal but its Michael Bevan hitting those last fours/sixes under pressure that helps the team to win otherwise lost matches.Even when the Detroit Pistons win the NBA it is because the standard for this honor comes from trouncing the giants like Kobe and Shaq.

I heard from Silicon valley and other high tech management consultancies that people sometime forego a brilliant candidate because these creme de la creme are not supposed to be team players.Managing a team of highly brilliant guys whose IQs are on the right side of the bell curve is like herding cats.We all heard motivational cliches like "There is no I in a Team" and the likes.

Somehow the idea of being team-averse and working by individual code seems chaotic and unorganized but thats how some of the best ideas of the world popped into existence.

Could someone make me rethink about teams given my propensity towrds individualism as noted above.Please let me know examples where Teamwork takes precedence over individualism.