The Magic of teamwork
foreign
i’d like to talk to you about teamwork
some people say that starting a project
with a new team is like climbing a
mountain
some say it feels like exploring
an unknown forest to me
it feels like jumping into a cold lake
with the support of the team it’s easier
and more fun than doing it alone
like jumping into a lake writing a
fictional
television series is possible but a team
of writers
works faster and usually they are able
to
create a more vivid fictional world
writer’s room means that a team of
writers
try to figure out what’s the best way to
tell the story
and to write the screenplays in the
given time frame
it’s not easy to describe what happens
in a writer’s room
basically a team of writers gathers in a
room
they talk a lot and sometimes they write
stuff
on a whiteboard what they are actually
doing
is creating a fictional world with
heroes
and villains and everything it’s like
those childhood games
where you created a whole imaginary
world
with your best friends the whole thing
happened in your heads
but you experienced it together
in 2018 we received funding from the
european union
for a project called the virtual writers
room
our goal was to find out if a team of
screenwriters
could work in a virtual space
back then some people didn’t understand
our project
they said the essential idea of the
writer’s room
is to be present in the room a physical
room that is
they said the room is where the magic
happens
and that is exactly what we were
interested in
is it possible to make that magic happen
in a virtual space to me
magic of the writer’s room is very close
to what keith sawyer
writes about group flow it is a
peak experience a group
performing at its top level of ability
some of you might know what flow feels
like
some of you might know what group flow
feels like
to me they feel like
cross-country skiing when the skis are
gliding it feels like
you’re flying on snow
for 20 years i’ve been part of a team
that gathers
every year to compete in umpi hong ki
don you got it
i’ll say it again
pilot it’s the world championships
of cross-country skiing in deep snow
it’s cold there’s a lot of snow
and most of the time you’re exhausted
but sometimes maybe twice in a decade
everything just clicks and it feels like
flying and the whole team is flying
to me that’s like group flow in a
writer’s room
being present feeling alive doing the
thing you love
and going forward with the team it
doesn’t feel like hard work
even though it’s just that
last spring during the coronal lockdown
i didn’t experience
flow or group flow mostly
just boredom i spent more time in doom
than ever before
in the most boring meetings i was
concentrating more on looking out of the
window
than looking at my colleagues in those
small pics
on my laptop actually
i was looking at a birdhouse in my
backyard
i built this birdhouse with my youngest
son
and we were quite proud of the awkward
looking thing
and we were quite surprised when the
bird started to build their nest in it
while looking at the bird house i
realized something about the virtual
writer’s room project
what it was really about me and my
colleagues
te ponutenen and mira carola tried to
create conditions
for young and aspiring writers to learn
how to work as a team and find those
magic moments
we wanted to create a place where they
could develop those ideas
where they could keep those ideas safe
and warm
and protected until they were strong
enough to fly on their own
i have worked in many teams in the past
30 years
as a student a screenwriter and a
teacher
what i’ve learned about teamwork is this
you learn teamwork only by doing
teamwork
it might seem easy but in reality it’s
hard work
it takes time before a team start
functioning
properly and even then the magic doesn’t
happen
automatically and even
if a team reaches group flow the ideas
might not be so brilliant
but the risk is worth taking because
the team can create something unique
something that has never been thought of
before
teamwork is never about one person
it’s not about elbowing your way to the
top
it’s not about being the smartest guy in
the room
teamwork is about us about our team
and our ability to create something
together
and there’s a difference if you talk
about my
idea or our idea
for example the virtual writers room
project
is not my idea but i’ve been part
of the team that decided to explore this
crazy idea
well it was crazy a couple of years ago
nowadays it seems everybody is doing it
creative teams all around the world are
working in virtual space
because they can’t miss face to face
to me the key to successful teamwork is
not about
where we work teamwork is not so
different
if we are climbing a mountain or diving
into a lake
working in a conference room or in a
virtual space
the key to successful teamwork are the
conditions
that we create for ourselves
how we treat each other how we talk
how we listen how we imagine things
together ultimately
we decide if teamwork feels like playing
with our best friends
we can make that happen if we really try
finding that magic is not easy but i
promise you
it’s worth it thank you