I recently stumbled across an online discussion between mainly HR professionals who were responding to the question why some people can’t work as part of a team.
Responses seemed either to assume that it was because the individual in question was an introvert, or because they didn’t want their weaknesses to be found out, or because they were a narcissistic personality.
I decided to put the record straight on the first point straight away. I have never seen anything in any serious literature on psychology or personality types that suggests that a person can’t work as a team member just because he/she is an introvert. I suspected that commenters were making the common mistake of confusing introversion with shyness, and explained what energizes different personality types. If HR professionals really believe this stuff, it actually would explain a lot.
With regard to people with specific weaknesses, those that I have personally observed in the workplace love to bury themselves in the concept of “the team” because it means that their own particular camouflaged hole is less visible. Production and workload belong to “the department”, therefore they do not have to be accountable when they are not pulling their own freight. As a more productive member of the team I frequently found myself having to step in and pick up parts of their workload when they fell behind, and this to them was normal and natural and anything else would have marked colleagues who became fed up with it and would have preferred to let them take the rap for it from the boss as “not being team players” in a fantastic 180 degree twist. Bosses are usually the last to find out for this reason.
As for narcissists, they are too good at their own personal PR campaigns to allow themselves to be seen in such a negative light. A narcissist would never allow himself to stick out like a sore thumb. What they actually do is to form cliques. You as their colleague are then either in or out of the clique. They cosy up to the boss, spinning him or her a yarn, while creating conflicts among colleagues. If you, as their colleague, happen to find yourself on the outside of the clique, then YOU become the one who is visibly isolated and “not fitting in”.
Most people want to contribute to the overall group effort, to have their voices heard and their ideas taken on board – even we hard-to-fit pieces who are a little “different”. There are very few true total recluses, and I doubt that they would end up working for an organization in the first place.
So it is not the lone wolf who is the threat to the team – cliques are.
It takes firm leadership from managers to notice what is going on and who is instigating it, and to act appropriately to ensure that everyone is being included and their contributions valued.
SevenSigma Project 
“With regard to people with specific weaknesses, those that I have personally observed in the workplace love to bury themselves in the concept of “the team” because it means that their own particular camouflaged hole is less visible”
When I’ve gone to school, the ‘group project’ was the bugbear. Whenever a group project was announced, usually two or three hands (mine was among them) would go up asking if we could do the project individually. The answer was always ‘no’. During the ‘meet and greet’ phase I’d announce that I wasn’t going to pick up slack, and that I’d confer with the professor about anyone who wasn’t pulling their weight. Not a popular stance, but I wasn’t about to let slackers take credit for my work.
I like working in a team. It’s fun to work with other people to achieve a common goal. When everyone is working competently and hard, credit isn’t important, but I have no time for the lazy and/or incompetent.
Hi Blair. Yes, of course, the dreaded school group project. I think your approach was a sensible one. Your fellow students knew where they stood right from the outset.
I have also seen the opposite, where a group of students purposely exclude one or two members of the assigned group and then have the audacity to complain to the tutor that these people aren’t helping. Unbelievable.
“where a group of students purposely exclude one or two members of the assigned group and then have the audacity to complain to the tutor that these people aren’t helping.”
Been there. I was assigned to a group that for whatever reason didn’t like me (maybe it was the whole ‘not doing your work for you’ thing), and didn’t communicate group meetings, assignments, etc, after the first couple of meetings. Got called into the professor’s office and asked why I wasn’t contributing. I explained the situation, and was allowed to do the project solo, although from my standpoint it was a whole lot of work (I was working full-time while going to school; so on and so forth). The kicker was that when the original group gave their presentation, they used my work in toto without attribution. I pointed this out to the professor, and to his credit he took that into account for the final grade for both parties.
Spot on analysis. I’ve left every job I’ve had because I’ve almost always immediately been shunned out of whatever clique had been there to date. I’ve only been in my current position for three years (which is long for me!) because a higher-level manager appreciates my efficiency and I finally have a bit of flexibility over my time and the manner in which I can complete my tasks. Unfortunately, said manager is also a pushover and won’t do anything about the very deep clique in that office, so I just try to keep to myself and my work as much as possible and try to take it in stride when others make fun of me ‘running’ around the office. What can I say? I can’t not get shit done – quickly! 😛
I guess it would make sense that most HR personnel are extroverts, but you’d think that they’d have to understand personality at least at a basic level to be professionally screening for any type of job. Hmm.
Still blogging?
Hi Blair, thank you so much for your continued interest in the blog. As I mentioned in the “My Activities” page, I have had a great number of non-cyberworld pots on the boil that have demanded a great deal of my time and attention, and I haven’t devoted as much time as previously to writing and blogging. I am very much still here, though, and I am still interested in everyone’s comments and questions. Wishing you and all the followers of the blog a happy 2014!
As you say, blogs have taken a back seat. My own blog has suffered as I’ve been focused on current projects. I look forward to your insights even as I publish my own.
Please take care.