Talent is great, but you need team chemistry to win

Published August 31, 2018 This content is archived.

Paul Tesluk, dean and professor in the School of Management, was interviewed by The New York Times for an article about team chemistry and the NY Giants. While not all winning teams have great chemistry, losing teams never do, and without the right structures in place, the Giants were effectively doomed from the start, said Tesluk who has studied sports teams such as the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres to understand the role that chemistry plays in on-field success — or, in the Giants’ case, failure. “Our natural instinct is to look at the raw talent of the individuals,” he said. “If you don’t have things like stability and leadership, or you don’t take into account how you build a team culture, you can only go so far on raw talent. That’s a really valuable lesson for the workplace as well.”