My team at Disney could be defined as a work team meaning we share responsibilities for the outcome of our organization. While Mandelas team was focused on changing the worldview in their country and if it failed it would not fall just on Mandelas team but mostly on Mandela.

I need three 90 word responses to my classmates posts listed below. Respond as if you are a classmate writing to another classmate. I need 1 source per response. 1. Brittany A Group is a collection of people and a team is defined as an interdependent group of people working together for a shared goal ( Thompson, 2018). My team at Disney could be defined as a work team meaning we share responsibilities for the outcome of our organization. While Mandelas team was focused on changing the worldview in their country and if it failed it would not fall just on Mandelas team but mostly on Mandela.
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, nonviolent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1962, sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state. Mandela served 27 years in prison. Nelson Mandela was a social rights activist, politician and philanthropist who became South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999. Mandela believed in team work and that nothing can be accomplished without it. He went on to display his love for teamwork by using the Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to untie the country. “As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights violations under apartheid and introduced numerous initiatives designed to improve the living standards of South Africa’s black population….In 1996, he presided over the enactment of a new South African constitution (History.com, 2020).”
Through out my life I have been apart of many different teams. In one of my many roles within the Walt Disney Company I was on a team that had many similarities to Mandelas team model. The leadership at the time believed in putting the team ahead of themselves. They did this to earn trust and respect much like Mandela. While they were not leading a country or a political movement they were leading their resort. This team much like Mandelas worked to be inclusive , diverse and be peaceful. This team did not tolerate violence , hateful acts or even negative behavior. This team I was on was used for problem solving , creativity and goal setting. One of their greatest strengths was the trust they had in their team. We were a team that helped function and run our organization smoothly. We pretty much ran without the need of any leadership and they were just their for support. We were encouraged and given the right tools to fix any situation ourselves. We were empowered within our roles. The only issue that we had arrive in our team work was that when something failed or went wrong the leadership was quick to blame. Often time leadership would want to point the finger at a certain teammate or lack of resource. They never wanted to properly access the issue which can be known as the misattribution error (Thompson, 2018). My team started to get split up after a year as Disney moved people around quite often. I believe if we he had more time together we had the potential to become great. Mandelas team seemed to resolve their issue with the World Cup and went on to unite the country. One thing both teams did well was pay attention to the team. While my team could of used more work when it came to failure both teams did put effort and time into their team members which is an important aspect for team success. They maid sure they felt valued and appreciated. Mandela much like Disney believed in giving recognition to the frontline and paving the way. Thompson said (2018) All in all you do not require strong leadership for good teamwork but it is a great asset to have , in this case both teams had good leadership skills backing the teams. References
“Nelson Mandela Writes from Prison.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb. 2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mandela-writes-from-prison. Thompson, Leigh L. Making The Team: A Guide for Managers. 6th ed., Prentice-Hall, 2018.
2. Omar Thinking back on the years that I spent in the military and the variety of teams that I have been part of, it was not easy to think and find a two-story about teams and compare them. However, I came across the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team made up of a group of Jamaican soldiers who were good athletes. I had a similar experience when I was deployed in Hungary in 1995. When the Jamaica bobsledding team was created to participate in the 1988 Winter Olympics, Dudley “Tal” Stokes was a captain in the Jamaican Army; in the interview with Stokes, he explained, “The Colonel made the suggestion to me, and because I was a Captain, you do as you told and obey orders” (Engel, 2014). My Battalion commander wanted me to create an International Forces (IFOR) soccer team in Hungary to play with the local village to create goodwill with the community.
Both of our teams were managed led teams; according to Thompson (2018), “managers led teams to provide the greatest amount of control over the team members and the work they perform.” We had a liaison who acted as our coach when we interacted with the civilians when preparing for the winter Olympics. We are also similar in that we were a problem-solving team because the Jamaican team had months to prepare for the winter games. Hence, they had to “attempt to resolve problems usually on an ongoing basis” (Thompson, 2018, p. 9). We encounter the same problems every time we have to plan and organize the event. The Jamaican team had to get creative because the team was assembled in September 1987, and by February 1988, they were competing in the winter Olympics (Engel, 2018). The IFOR soccer team has challenges that we had to be creative and thinking outside the box because of the limited resources that we had when “the process focused on the creative team is on exploring possibilities and alternatives” (Thompson, 2018, p. 9). Three of the major differences between the Jamaican team and the IFOR soccer team are that we work made up of a multigenerational team because we were composed of different ages. We had different points of view (Thompson, 2018) on how to play the game. Another area that we had boundedness team members because most of the players work easily identifiable, but at times, nonmembers can jump in and be part of the team. Pretty much, we became an improvised team. Thompson (2018) described an improvised team as an “Ad hoc Team that adapts to given situation moment by moment.”
Overall, the Jamaican bobsled team and the IFOR soccer team overcame many of the challenges and improved the overall goal.
Thompson, Leigh L. Making the Team: A Guide for Managers. 6th ed., Prentice-Hall, 2018.
Engel, Pamela (2014, Feb 6). Here is the real story of the ‘cool running’ bobsled team that the movie got wrong. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-story-of-the-cool-runnings-bobsled-team-2014-2
3. Katherine With a background in theater myself, I cannot help but think of now famous plays in their original productions many years ago. For example, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen premiered in 1879 at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen (Yuhan, 2015). The premiere was sold out and a review from this production states that the theater was “obviously filled with great excitement and fascination, at least up to the last scene, and the applause was strong both after the first and second acts, as it was after the final curtain” (Yuhan, 2015). This production was controversial at the time because, in the final scene, it depicts a woman deciding to leave her husband and children. In fact, when the production later moved to Germany in 1880, Ibsen changed the ending to have the wife stay for the sake of the children (Yuhan, 2015). The team behind the original production in 1879 included Henrik Ibsen himself, as well as Betty Hennings, a renowned actress at that time who played the wife Nora, and Emil Poulsen, another notable actor during that time who played the husband (Yuhan 2015). The team also likely had a director and production crew that helped with the set, costumes, lighting, etc., but their names seem to have been lost to history. Meanwhile, the team I am currently working on is at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I work at Hollywood Studios in Vacation Planning, meaning I assist guests with their tickets at the front of the park. I am a part of the team that is training cast members on the implementation of a new ticketing program. These two teams are similar in that they both are trying to achieve change and include unknown team members. First, Ibsen’s story was controversial in the way that it depicted Nora’s story and changed the discussion around women and independence. Similarly, our team is trying to bring about change with the new ticketing system, a move that is somewhat controversial with other cast members in that the new system is replacing one that has been used for the past 24 years. In both cases, there are some that are resistant and outspoken against this sort of change. Additionally, in both cases there are some unknown team members. While we know the names of a few of the actors involved in the original production of A Doll’s House, there is likely at least a dozen others whose names are difficult, if not impossible, to track down now. Similarly, our team is comprised of many different members from different departments and even different companies. I have been introduced to team members from the training and development department at Disney, those who have worked to help adapt the system to Disney’s needs, and those working on some of the more technical aspects. But there are several others, including some international team members who I do not know. Obviously, there are also significant differences between these two teams. Beyond the obvious differences of time and place, there is also a significant difference in the subject matter. Ibsen’s play dealt with themes of marriage, disappointment, and independence. The implementation of a new ticketing system has little to do with these themes and is focused more on technical aspects and training (though I do find myself managing the emotions of my coworkers as we adjust to this massive change). Secondly, Ibsen’s team chose to adapt in the face of controversy. When the production moved to Germany, Ibsen changed the ending. In contrast, our team (at least thus far) has not decided to make any major adjustments or alterations to the program based on the reactions from cast members. In essence, we are forging ahead. References: Yuhan. (March 18, 2015). Staging and Reception of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879). Purdue World Literature.Retrieved from https://purduecomplit.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/staging-and-reception-of-henrik-ibsens-a-dolls-house-1879/