“Teamwork makes the dream work” sounds cheesy and it is, but it can be very true and I like a good quip. So I was surprised to find out it wasn’t some from, say, the 70s or 80s but a creation of the 2000s. The phrase was first coined in 2002 by John C. Maxwell in a book of the same name. Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and man of the cloth who has written bestselling books on leadership. That doesn’t always mean he makes good decisions as he was charged with possession of a concealed weapon while attempting to board an airplane in 2009 and called Guatemalan Attorney General, Maria Consuelo Porras, “a rockstar” and a “leader of leaders” despite heavy criticism towards her role in “dismantling anti-corruption efforts and judicial independence, including through the ‘persecution’ of key anti-impunity prosecutors and judges.” And he’s an evangelist so there’s that too.
Maybe I should stop using a quote from a guy like this. Fortunately, my son has a better version. When I taught him the quote, he misheard me and said the following:
Teamwork makes the team work.
I’d buy his book.
I remember my dad quoting me “Teamwork makes the dream work” well before then, during my first few weeks of starting my 1st job in 1982…He said he was quoting his RSM from basic training during his national service in 1958, when as a platoon of new recruits had to work together to complete the assigned task.
After a few failed attempts at completing the task, the RSM repeated numerous times “Teamwork makes the dreamwork”.
At about the 5th attempt the assigned task was completed correctly, but it required the whole platoon to work as a team to achieve the pass.
Wow, okay!