Optimally, your company’s budget should be an elegant financial expression of a tight, cohesive storyline that explains how tactics and execution in the upcoming year align with the company’s purpose, long-term vision, and master (or top level) goals.

To begin, it’s important to state what I hope is the obvious—that the number one job of all leaders and managers is to be a coach to their teams and team members. Unfortunately, in many organizations, coaching is viewed as a ‘nice to have’ and is not encouraged as the priority it should be. There are all manner of excuses for this lack of focus on coaching.

In a healthy team or organization, there is a spirit of learning and continuous improvement that is shared by each individual. There is shared purpose, strong communication, a sense of stewardship, well-defined goals and standard work, cross-training, backups, smooth handoffs, empowerment to pull the Andon Cord (to stop the assembly line in the case of an issue), and a laser focus on delighting the customer.

There are a few additional aspects of team chemistry that are not included in our list and those are the concepts of finesse and tact. Understanding nuance is also critically important to team chemistry. These are skills that don’t receive much attention in the myriad lists of “top skills for the future,” but I would argue that they form the foundation for all high-functioning teams that sustain their performance over the long term.

We’ve all heard these phrases before: “My team just clicks,” “My team is a well-oiled machine,” “My team is really gelling,” “My team has great chemistry,” and the ever-nauseating “Teamwork makes the dream work.” This week, I’d like to explore the concept of team chemistry to determine if it’s as mysterious as it’s often made out to be, or if there are necessary conditions that underlie team chemistry and make it something we can create and extend from one team to another.

Living this new life with brand new shiny titanium hips comes at a cost. The cost is that certain movements are prohibited - especially twisting like a pretzel or creating an acute angle between the upper and lower body. There is a mindset shift that accompanies transformational biomechanical surgeries. I am a better version of myself, but I can no longer allow “I can do anything” hubris to get the best of me. There’s an extra layer of situational awareness that I’ve had to build over the last two years that forces me to slow down and think before I act. I view this newfound situational and spatial awareness as an asset and not a liability.