Henry Ford on working together as a team

Henry Ford said, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” He knew something that took researchers years to formalize—teams don’t perform instantly.

Before a team hits its stride, it has to go through the messy middle. First, the team forms. Then, it storms. Clashes happen. Egos flare. People push back against roles, ideas, and each other. And that’s normal. The storm isn’t a sign of failure—it’s a necessary part of the process.

Only after that tension is worked through does the team find a rhythm (norm) and start hitting peak performance. But skipping straight to high performance? That’s a fantasy. The best teams embrace the storm, learn from it, and come out stronger on the other side.

If your team is struggling, don’t panic—you’re just in the storming phase. Keep working, keep communicating, and soon enough, you’ll be performing. That’s real success.

Adam delivers authentic keynotes, workshops and seminars for corporate, government and not-for-profit organizations worldwide.  Please contact us for information about our offerings.

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