On Teamwork, Part 2

This picture is the payoff. I saw it in the Starbucks located on the deep south end of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This location is buried inside the facility, and I would assume only operates when there are big events like NAB rolling through.

Considering the long line I stood in for my miesto, this location has got to be a living hell to work. A never ending procession of out-of-towners that are grumbling, tired and cranky.

I had plenty of time to look at this poster-sized photo collection. The immediate thought was here's a manager that has taken the time to recognize the people that made him or her a Five-Star Starbucks location operator. Good on that person. It was lots of social photos -- Facebook-like in this wall of friends that work at the location.

It's not a very slick job. The headline "OUR FIVE STAR LEGENDARY TEAM" is hand printed. The layout is kind of haphazard. For all the kitschy-ness of the frame, the sentiment was clear. The manager was building a community from the team, and when that team performed, the manager made sure they knew it. For all the world to see.

When reading Patrick Lencioni's book, and seeing that pyramid, and what it takes to destroy or avoid building teamwork, it brought me back to my memory of this Starbuck moment.

Two halves of the same story -- one on a wall, one in a pyramid.