Teamwork Archives - Page 8 of 32

Mercenaries

General William Westmoreland testified before the Gates Commission, which planned an all-volunteer army. He said he did not want to command an army of mercenaries. The economist Milton Friedman stopped him: “General, would you rather command an army of slaves?”

Friedman went on: “If they are mercenaries, then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are a mercenary general.” He added: “we are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher.” Friedman told the story in his memoir, Two Lucky People.

The draft ended, and the all-volunteer force came into effect on July 1, 1973.

Two Weeks’ Notice

An American who quits a job is expected to give two weeks’ notice. Yet in most cases no law requires it. The employment nonprofit Legal Aid at Work says “there is no legal requirement that you do so.”

The custom rests on other reasons. Minnesota’s labor department says: “Courtesy and time to collect accrued benefits are reasons why notice is given.”

Noncompete Agreements in California

With a few exceptions set out in the law, Section 16600 of the California Business and Professions Code makes void “every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind.” The rule dates from 1872. Since 2024 the text adds that noncompete clauses in employment are void “no matter how narrowly tailored,” unless an exception applies.

In practice, an employee in California can leave for a competitor. The former employer cannot use a noncompete clause to stop the move. One California employment law firm writes that the rule has enabled tech workers “to job hop.” It links the rule to the start-up culture of Silicon Valley.

The Decision

On July 8, 2010, LeBron James announced on a live ESPN special where he would play as a free agent. “This fall, I’m going to take my talents to South Beach,” he said. He left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. The program was called The Decision.

In Cleveland, fans burned his No. 23 jerseys in the streets. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, called James’s decision a “heartless and callous action.” James later returned to Cleveland and won the city a championship.

To many fans it felt like betrayal. Yet James had done what free agency allows.

The Reserve Clause

On December 24, 1969, Curt Flood, the center fielder of the St. Louis Cardinals, wrote to Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. He had been traded to Philadelphia. “After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes,” he wrote. “I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decisions.”

Baseball’s reserve clause restricted the right of players to switch teams. Flood challenged it in court and lost in 1972. On December 23, 1975, the arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled for the pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally. He found “no contractual bond” between them and their clubs. The two pitchers became free agents.

Tours of Duty

In 2014 Harvard Business Review Press published The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh. The book says that “a business is far more like a sports team than a family.”

The authors say the old deal of “lifelong employment in exchange for loyal service” no longer fits. They propose that employer and employee agree on a “tour of duty,” with a specific mission and a set time frame. One review says the authors have in mind a tour of two to four years.

A Sports Team, Not a Family

The culture page of Netflix says the company models itself “on a professional sports team, not a family.” It explains: “Families are about unconditional love.” Sports teams instead focus on “picking the right person for every position,” even when that means “swapping out someone they love for a better player.”

Leaders apply what Netflix calls the keeper test. They ask: “if X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?” If the answer is no, the company believes “it’s fairer to everyone to part ways quickly.” The page says the team is driven by performance, “not seniority, tenure or unconditional loyalty.”

Taking It Offline

Let’s take this offline. The speaker moves a difficult topic out of the meeting and into a private talk.

Can I grab you for a minute? This is a quiet request to speak with someone alone.

Pull someone aside. This means to speak with one person away from the group, often about a problem.

I’m going to have to escalate this. The speaker takes a problem with a colleague to a manager.

Let’s loop in HR. A problem between people goes to the human resources department.

The Vocabulary of Disagreement

Can I push back on that? This is a polite request to disagree. It is often heard in meetings.

Let me play devil’s advocate. The speaker argues the other side on purpose to test an idea.

I respectfully disagree. The disagreement is open, and the tone stays polite.

Let’s agree to disagree. Both sides end the argument, and neither side gives in.

Challenge the assumptions. This is a common instruction in planning and strategy sessions.

Don’t be a yes-man. This is a warning against agreeing with the boss by reflex.

Ruinous Empathy

Kim Scott’s Radical Candor was a bestseller in 2017. It gives a common failing of bosses a name: “ruinous empathy.” The manager cares about a person but does not challenge the person directly. The criticism comes sugar-coated and unclear.

Scott had run the AdSense program at Google and later built a management course at Apple. She tells of an employee whose poor work she never named clearly. In the end she fired him. He asked her: “Why didn’t you tell me?”