It’s June and that means one of two things. It’s summer and it’s blockbuster movie season. In recent years the cinemas have been dominated by the Avengers movies. What if I told you that each movie highlights an important aspect about teamwork? What are the lessons at the core of these movies and how can you transfer them to your own team?
Avengers (2012) – Finding a common goal
Throughout the majority of the first film we see their teamwork is all over the place. They don’t work well, they don’t communicate with each other, and it culminates in a tense argument in the lab. Even with the Helicarrier under attack they aren’t working together. That is until the death of Phil Coulson. He was a character most members of the team had an interaction or relationship with so it affects them. Uniting together, they plan to avenge him (see what they did there?) and stop the villain. From this point on, they work well together and manage to save the day.
You’ll find that in most cases if a team has a common goal or objective to rally behind, they do accomplish it. Just try and keep it reasonable! Perhaps have a larger goal, but divide it into smaller, more achievable ones that the team can work through slowly together.
Age of Ultron (2015) – Ego
Let’s make this short. In Age of Ultron Tony goes off (with the help of Bruce) and makes an AI to help protect the world. Said AI Ultron goes nuts and sets about trying to end the world. What was the issue here? Tony in his hubris and ego thought he could control something and got in over his head. Throughout the film he tries to justify his actions and doesn’t readily admit that he has done anything wrong. Ego can destroy a team’s dynamic if it isn’t dealt with.
In a work environment putting your ego aside to get the job done is often the best thing you can do. Even if it is easier said than done! I’m not saying ego in itself is a bad thing, in fact it drives a lot of our actions but when it is harmful then you need to check yourself. A simple way of doing this is by asking yourself if you are doing this because you believe it’s the right thing to do or because it was your idea?
Captain America: Civil War (2016) – Compromise
The premise is that after a disaster involving the Avengers in order to keep functioning they have to sign up to be agents of the U.N. Captain America is against it since as he says “regieme’s change” he believes that they are best being autonomous. Through a series of events the Avengers fracture and come to blows.
The issue at the heart of this is compromise. It’s made explicit that the Avengers can’t keep acting as they have until now, but Steve’s concerns are valid. The issue here is that he doesn’t offer a valid alternative solution to the problem. There is a brief moment when he contemplates signing with the understanding they can amend it later, but when he learns about Wanda’s fate he digs his feet in and doesn’t move. Rightly or wrongly this then sets up the conflict for the film. Both sides’ unwillingness to compromise breaks the team and results in future failures.
Another issue raised is micro-management. The accords at the end of the day are there to dictate what the Avengers can and can’t do. I can tell you from experience micro-management doesn’t promote strong team cohesion. It leaves the team feeling dejected and unable to do their job without someone breathing down their necks. I’ve found that teams work well when they have a level of autonomy so this sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Avengers: Infinity War – Communication
The big bad Thanos comes back and because the team broke up he has a much easier time beating the heroes. The crux of this film is lack of communication. Tony has an opportunity to call Steve to get his help, but instead of swallowing his pride and ego (that seems to be a theme) he chooses to go it alone. The team is split into two distinct groups who although they have moderate success they ultimately fail.
Now it’s debatable if they had been working together would they have won the day. I think one thing we can all agree on though is that they would have improved their chances. Being able to communicate well as a team is fundamental when working together. It allows you to make sure you’re all on the same page.
Avengers: Endgame – Learn from the past
After all their previous missteps as a team they are finally firing on all cylinders and are able to save the day. Gone are the ego’s, the communication problems and micro-management. In their place is a team that formulates plans together, that are united behind a common goal and work autonomously to that large goal. The issues they face come from external factors and not from within the team. When they are working together it is glorious and they are able to achieve more than they have ever done. Even in the final battle, each member is working in sync with the other members of the team.
There you have it how the Avengers films can act as a model for building a stronger team. Learn from their mistakes and maybe you’ll feel like you can achieve anything! If you want more articles like this one then why don’t you check out our Blog page? We publish articles every week so it’s worthwhile following us on Facebook, Twitter to see when we post.
