If I was planning to disband my team this week and I only cared about what they could deliver in a couple of days then I’d be focused on making sure that everyone was doing that piece of work that they were most skilled at.
I certainly wouldn’t care about collaboration or cross training or improving any of the systems. Just get it done.
On the other hand, if I’m playing a long game and expect to be continuing to run my business in the future, then all of these things are critically important.
All of these things are part of a long term play and if we want to be better in the future, we need to make time for them.
When I suggest things like actively working together, I frequently hear “we don’t have time now because we’re so busy”. I’m sure that’s true, and yet the reality is that you’ll always be busy. If you don’t make time for improvement, it won’t happen.
Are you playing the long game or the short?