Team Work or Teamwork?

Should Teamwork (电涡 = Dein Wok) be written in two words or one word?

In English, both are correct depending on the context of the sentence. However, a Team that Works is significantly different with a group that has Teamwork...in order to drive the true spirit behind the word, it is best written as a single word.

Hate them or Like them, in a lot of ways, the Americans are the pioneer in "Teamwork" where it's most obvious through their team sports starting from as early as 1900...more than a century ago...

Try to google the word, there are thousands of sites promoting and defining the meaning of the word, there are also thousands of quotes on the subject and most of them are by American. One of the most famous one, which are printed on a lot of T-Shirts today, "Teamwork. Simply stated. It is less me and more we." but, how many can truly practices the concept?Take the Legend, Hall Of Famer, Michael "His Airness" Jordan of Chicago Bulls for example, no matter how high and far he can "fly", without the support from the 2nd Three-peat team with the likes of Scotie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley, who is Michael Jordan? Can he really go against a five member opposing team alone in offense and defence?

In team sport, every individual must know how to play their role to achieve the team's goal. In 1995, the Bulls went 72-10, losing only 10 games the entire regular season and it's still a record today. The coach, Phil Jackson quoted, "The strength of the team is each individual member...The strength of each member is the team.".
Jordan shares the same view, "Talents wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.". Although his greatness is a major factor especially in shouldering the burden and pressure of game winning shots with less than 5seconds on the clock, without Pippen as His Airness's wing-man, Kerr and Kukoc in position to drain shots from beyond the ark as well as drawing opponents away, Rodman going against centers & power forwards taller and bigger than him grabbing all those rebounds and finally, Longley fending off big centers like Shaq, I doubt Jordan can win as much championships as he did. Furthermore, if the team members are all immature and selfish, they will not be winning anything even if there's 5 Michael Jordan in the team.

Can Christiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney score as many goals playing with the current batch of players in Portsmouth FC?...without the proper support from midfields, wings, defences and goalkeepers? Casey Stengel quoted, "Getting good players is easy. Getting them to play together is the hard part.".

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There's also no room for nonsense like Age Barrier in team sports. Just take the current Arsenal FC for example, Cesc Fabregas is one of the youngest player in the team, yet, he is an inspirational captain...whenever he's fit to play... When everyone playing their socks off together, remarkable things, do and will happen. Remember the "Unbeatable" Arsenal team that created English Premier League and football history?

Professionalism plays a major role in team sports...take Manchester City FC for example, Emmanual Adebayor earns as much as 180,000pounds A WEEK!!! while the new dude like Adam Johnson (Jersey No.11), at the most, I believe, earns 40,000pounds a week. If the amount each player earn also become a barrier and get in the way of "Teamwork", they probably won't be able to even fight for a Draw every time they take the field.

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The other part that really drives the difference in team sports in the leader and the coaching staff. Preparing the team in advance, strategising the tactical aspect against the next opponent as well as manoeuvre players' position during the game is also part of the key to success...and when required, playing mind-games...Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are top managers in the field.

"Kepala Besar" is the major negative contributor to team sports and we, Malaysian are uniquely gifted in that...take the Malaysian National Football team for example, don't you think that the Sea Game Gold Medal was a total fluke? Are we really catching up to the other Asean countries? What about the Asian level? Where are we? I guess, that is why, Malaysian, normally fair better in individual sport like Bowling, Badminton and Squash.

Actually, the subject of "Teamwork" was requested by an ex-colleague from PB&F, PY...who's currently working with a group of dedicated personnel that reminded her so much of the team during the bright cigarette advertising days in PB&F.

Back then in PB&F, we had about 70+ staff but everyone, from the Directors all the way to the Dispatch, Pakcik Hussein and Tea Lady, Choy Choo, knows their exact role they needed to play to support each other. It was not forced...it was unspoken but it was there and it worked.

Although, there are those unavoidable office politics, everyone is aware of it but no one is truly affected by the nonsense. In fact, together, we achieved greater & greater heights and eventually, built a name for ourselves. A fitting quote from Robert Yates, "It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit.".

It was a fantastic feeling, just like a well-oiled machine where every part runs in perfect harmony and synchronisation. It's also like a perfect team, when one member is down, the others fill the gap and protect each other...more than family, more than friends...maybe back then, that's the spirit Peter Beaumont wanted to drive, the Teamwork in PB&F...where the "F" actually do stand for "Friends"...

I have a lot of Chun Toi friends, especially those from Peter Beaumont & Friends...hehehe...they appreciates the Chun Toi that I was and the Chun Toi I've become...but after all, I'm still me, a Chun Toi with Cracks.

P/S: This "Blogger" or "Bugger" appreciates the contribution of Ms Shying Tan (For the Chinese characters), Ms Molly Ong, Ms Law "Dragon Lady" Swee Kheng and Ms PY "Pantai" Liew as well as paying a special tribute to Pakcik Hussein and Choy Choo...for all the coffee she made for me before she goes home everyday...before I come in...hahaha...