Teaming can be a religion or a cult. The Wall Street Journal said that one “plant’s emphasis on fitting into a group can seem almost cultist: Worker mishaps that might hamper production or tarnish the plant’s reputation are considered an affront to everyone and can prompt a sort of communal confession.”[i]
One group at this plant mistakenly allowed a batch of defective products to be produced. The self managed team had to explain to the entire plant what happened and how it would be avoided in the future. If this is rough for you, how would you feel if you had to go in front of an entire workforce, explain what happened, and then wait until all your workplace partners voted whether your entire team should be fired for the transgression.
[i] Aeppel, Timothy, “Missing the Boss: Not All Workers Find the Idea of Empowerment as Neat as It Sounds,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 1997, p. 1.