The system approach emphasizes the important difference between a disconnected set of parts versus a collection of parts that work together to create a functional whole. Just as the BMW as a whole makes it “the ultimate driving machine” so do teams such as work teams or sports teams. The book further states that functional whole is called a “system” and in a system the whole is more than the sum of its parts. This definition reminds me of a little league baseball team I was on in elementary school. Our team name was The Dodgers but everyone called us the “Bad News Dodgers” since we lost so many games. The name came from a movie that was popular at the time, The Bad News Bears (I know, I’m dating myself). Even though our team as a whole was bad at playing baseball we did have a star player on the team, Lisa Scott. She was one of the best players in our division and was tougher than most of the boys in the league. She would take a hit with a baseball and brush it off. I would have cried and did. So even though we had one of the best players on the team, as a whole we were lousy. I would say The Dodgers team’s systems approach was a disconnected set of parts. As a side note, the next year Lisa Scott went up a division in the little league and was a part of a winning team. You go girl!
I've always wanted to play in a team sport. It might be too late in life for me. Anyway, I see the author's point about being a disconnected set of parts or a connected one. I connect this with Maslow's Hierchy of needs for some reason. I think that for example in a winning or successful team, most of the players enjoy their work or tasks. This mainly has to do with when one becomes an adult and part of the 'real' world (a high school teacher used to call it that). Mainly because as children we tend to be happier and trying to be connected rather than building on competition.
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