While I always enjoy Maine State Music Theatre’s spectacular productions, the highlights, for me, are often the big dance numbers, the times when ensemble members strut (or tap) their stuff with utter precision and unabashed joy. I imagine the years of hard work that each dancer spent leading up to that moment.
I appreciate the spirit of teamwork required at every step (or tap) along the way. On a related note, I’m glad that Curt Dale Clark, MSMT’s artistic director, takes the time to thank all the people backstage who make every show possible. To his credit, Curt sometimes thanks the people in the audience because, in a real sense, we’re part of the “team.”
Speaking of teams, I’ve been a baseball fan for over 70 years, and most of that time my favorite team (first the Cleveland Indians, then the Baltimore Orioles, and now the Red Sox) have had the same nemesis: the dreaded New York Yankees. Sorry, Yankees fans, but since the Sox are having another mediocre year, I find myself scanning the scores to see if the cellar-dwelling Yankee’s lost the previous day. And I’m glad that the Orioles, with the third-lowest payroll in all of baseball, now stand at the top of the toughest division in the game. The Yankees, as usual, have one of the highest payrolls. Something tells me that team chemistry — or lack of it — has led to this situation.
Almost everyone has experienced both good and not-so-good team chemistry — at work or school or in community organizations or in families or, yes, in a marriage. People skilled at working well in a team can accomplish more than individual members working alone. As Mae West might say, “One plus one equals three if you know how to work it right.”
Bowdoin College is guided by an unusually high spirit of teamwork, which springs from the top and has always infused the culture of the place. I once asked a Bowdoin professor who had a degree from a similar top New England college how Bowdoin differs from her school. She said, “Bowdoin students tend to be more cooperative, less cutthroat. They support each other.”
David Deming, a professor of political economy at Harvard, and his collaborators have developed a test for teamwork that enables them to detect those special people who elevate group performance. The best team players have high levels of emotional intelligence and can efficiently assign tasks to the peers best equipped to perform them.
Most members of Congress today have lost the spirit of teamwork required to get things done on behalf of the American people. It’s become Republicans versus Democrats; red states versus blue states; liberals versus conservatives. Too many members strive to score points and raise money by demonizing the other side. I’m sometimes guilty of this tendency. That said, in my view there is absolutely no defense for Donald Trump. He’s the antithesis of a team player, a law and a leach unto himself. Until he’s bumped off the American political stage, I see little hope for a more unified America. I’d be thrilled if more moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats could win primary elections and get the nation back on track.
Learning how to work together without conflict is a critical skill that can help almost anyone achieve great success. Maybe it begins with teaching kids how to play well in the sandbox. Maybe schools and colleges should add “developing good team players” to their list of educational goals. Or maybe, as a start, we just need to take a time out and think deeply about the issue. And we might begin by agreeing that, yes, we’re all in this together.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future Just a Little Old columns. dtreadw575@aol.com