Creating a Team Culture: Know Your Starting 5
Five key considerations for developing a positive and dynamic team culture, inspired by the Netflix series ‘The Last Dance’.

The Netflix documentary “The Last Dance’ is the thrilling story of the Chicago Bulls.

During the 1990’s Basketball’s ‘Greatest Of All Time’ (GOAT) Michael Jordan and legendary coach Phil Jackson led the team to six NBA titles breaking all records along the way.

In Jordan, they had the best player in the world, a competitor that knew he was the star of the team, unafraid of telling the world how unique he was:

“There is only one Michael Jordan.” — Michael Jordan

But Jackson inherited a weak, dysfunctional Bulls team. Without a purpose and trust within the group, they lacked the culture needed for success. How was that culture changed to create one of the greatest teams of all time?

Can teams flourish without individual talent, and how can a positive culture be developed, maintained and adapted?

Here we present our ‘Starting 5’. Five key considerations to help create a positive and dynamic culture in your team.

basketballforever.com

Purpose

The Bulls’ General Manager, Jerry Krause was a diligent recruiter, and despite being largely disliked he drafted Michael Jordan and hired Phil Jackson, both made history and led the team to success.

To build a team, you need people, not skill sets. A skill set looks good on paper but doesn’t work without a values-driven structure, much like a muscular system with the skeleton, a skill set is only one aspect of a fully functional and effective team player.

To recruit people, you need to dig a little deeper and reflect upon their values in their interactions:

Does this person’s values fit into our vision?

How does this person fit the dynamic of our team?

Will this person show the humility required to be brave and risk making mistakes and be willing to learn from others?

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle — seekpng.com

“If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we all need to know our WHY.” — Simon Sinek, Find Your Why

Every individual should take the time to find their ‘Why’:

Sinek frames this as part of a golden circle of Why, How and What.

The people you hire must share a similar ‘Why’ to your team, or a ‘Why’ that helps progress.

The Bulls franchise’s ‘Why’ in the late 80’s/ early 90’s was simple; Success. That meant winning the NBA title, and there was little else that mattered along the way.

Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 through the draft, and his ‘why’ matched the Bulls, he was desperate to be a winner. He famously said:

“There is no ‘I’ in team, but there is an ‘I’ in win.’

Although clear on the ‘Why’. The Bulls didn’t seem to have a ‘How’. It took Jordan and the Bulls seven years to be successful, to find their ‘How’. Jordan realised that the ‘How’ involved looking to others, using the players around him to drive toward success.

The ‘How’ was Trust.

Jordan had to trust others to be part of a successful team.

‘’Individuals win matches, it takes a team to win a championship”. — Michael Jordan

So now, ‘What’?

The famous triangle offence was a system devised to use every single player on the floor to be productive and creative. To trust one another to move toward success.

This system galvanised team spirit, and by employing it consistently, the team were knocking on the door.

In the close season of 1990, The Bulls needed to be stronger and rise to the physical intimidation of the Pistons. Jordan demanded everyone train through their summer — a time most players wanted to be on holiday after the pressures of an 82 game season — to be one step ahead in their race to success.

This led to their first-ever NBA title.

It all started with ‘Why’.

Reflective Questions:

Does your team have a ‘Why’?

Do you know your colleagues and teammates’ ‘Why’ and do these support your team?

Is there a specific ‘How’ and do people know ‘What’ to focus on?

pexels.com -Martin Spiske

2. Trust

“Trust is choosing to make something important to you, vulnerable to the actions of someone else.” — Brene Brown ‘Anatomy of Trust’ — reflecting on work initially by Charles Feldman

Jordan’s trust of others placed the team’s ‘Why’ of success out of his hands; he felt vulnerable. With time, he could accept it wasn’t about him taking the game-winning shot but more about the shot being successful, regardless of who took it. Jackson had transformed Jordan and famously described he had turned him into a player “who surrenders the me, for the we.”

Brene Brown’s ‘BRAVING’ model delves deeper into the anatomy of trust.

B — Boundaries

R — Reliability

A — Accountability

V — Vault

I — Integrity

N — Non-judgment

G — Generosity

Dennis Rodman flaunted boundaries, and there were instances that question if he was reliable. His much-publicised trip to Vegas that was deemed appropriate by Jackson, much to Jordan’s frustration.

Dennis had the green light to go for a 48-hour vacation. Jordan made his thoughts clear:

“You let him go on vacation, we’re not going to see him. You let him go to Vegas, and we’re definitely not going to see him.”

Five days later Jordan went to Vegas and dragged him out of bed — Carmen Electra hiding behind his couch!

According to Mike Stallard writing in Connection Heroes, Jackson asked Jordan to become a leader. Being a leader would require Jordan to have a presence and make an effort to get to know his teammates personally, so they knew they could rely on him.

Worthy of a Hollywood film scene, his retrieval of Rodman is an example of how well Jordan knew his teammate, but it could have spelt the end for Rodman.

Presumably, not proud of his behaviour, Rodman hadn’t even told his son about the incident. DJ Rodman was recently asked by CBS Sports (29 Apr 2020) what he thought of the Netflix Series and his father’s behaviour:

“I knew about everything else but not that…I didn’t know that you could do that. I didn’t know that you could go up to your coach and be like, ‘Hey, I need a vacation”.

Maybe Rodman had thought this one was in the vault — unspoken and tucked away by teammates and not to be released. Wishful thinking given the media coverage at the time.

Careless words and ‘gossip’ that leaks sensitive details from organisations destroys trust.

‘The Jordan Rules’ book by Sam Smith uncovered Jordan’s alleged gambling addiction.

Stories leaked by ‘golf friends’ and allegedly players within the club, threatened to break open the vault and questioned Jordan’s integrity, eroding trust.

Jordan held the media to account and became a social recluse, hiding in his hotel room and refusing to speak to journalists. In this recent Guardian article, Bryan Armen Graham suggests Jordan’s relationship with the media has never recovered, and he now relies on controlling narratives to avoid controversy. Jordan allegedly has total control over the selection of content for the Netflix series by ensuring involvement from his production company Jump 23 in The Last Dance documentary.

Despite off-court stories, Jordan always turned up. His NBA career average of over 30 points per game speaks for itself.

Legendary NBA coach Bob Knight, famously described Jordan was the most reliable player he had ever seen:

“(Jordan is) the best basketball player that I’ve ever seen play…the only player that could turn it on and off, and he never frickin’ turned it off.”

Jordan and Rodman were very different personalities, but each knew how to handle the other.

Daniel Coyle, in The Culture Code, states:

“The most important words a person can say are, ‘I screwed that up.’”

It is an exchange of vulnerability between two people that creates closeness and builds trust.

Brene Brown describes moments like these as ‘’Sliding Doors moments’’, (Sliding Doors 1998) — opportunities to build trust can also be a chance for betrayal. Return from Vegas created a Sliding Doors moment between Rodman and Jackson, testing Jackson’s ability to be non-judgemental and generous. With many on the outside expecting Rodman to be sacked, Jackson pulled him closer, Rodman responded with humility and repaid Jackson with some of the best performances of his career.

The Sliding Doors moment had improved the trust between the two.

Jackson knew Rodman was a talent, but he could also acknowledge Rodman needed to decompress. Rodman did his job on the court working towards the Bull ultimate goals, and that was all that mattered. Jackson remained non-judgemental despite immense public pressure to take Rodman to task.

How would you have handled Dennis Rodman?

Reflective Questions:

How are different personalities handled in your team? Are boundaries adjusted for individuals and what impact does that have upon the dynamics of your group?

Is there vulnerability displayed and trust built between members of your team?

Is there a vault, inaccessible by those on the outside?

At British School Manila, we created a ‘Commitment’ infographic to help prompt one another on our Purpose and Trust.

Section of BSM PE Staff Commitment

3. Character

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” — Phil Jackson

The character of an individual is crucial. To be successful, individuals in teams cannot be interdependent.

Imagine if a member of your team feels down, a high level of interdependence will mean you and other members of the team feel down as a result. An example would be — If you are unhappy, that affects me, and I will become unhappy too. This interdependency will, over time, will harm the atmosphere and affect progress.

Phil Jackson was superb at creating teams working towards a shared purpose while maintaining the character and encouraging individualism. The Bulls players weren’t ready-made subordinates, many were big characters with complex personalities managing all sorts of personal and public pressures, but they were not interdependent.

During the 1997/98 season, Scottie Pippen was in the headlines for the timing of his knee surgery. He enjoyed his summer break and opted for surgery just before the season start — an act of dissent aimed at the Bulls management team.

Pippen had been tied into a long term contract by Jerry Krause back in 1991. At the time of signing it was lucrative, worth almost $3million a year. Jerry was clear re-negotiation wasn’t on the table.

As Pippen entered his seventh year as a starter, he was the 6th highest paid-player in the franchise and the 122nd highest-paid player in the league.

In the Last Dance, Pippen was clear in his stance:

“I’m one of the best players to ever play the game, I understand what my value is to this game,”

Jackson refused to be drawn into a public power struggle, Pippen was his own man and had every right to be upset.

The team’s purpose and trust was well established, ingrained over the last nine years, there was little interdependence. Individual differences and opinions were embraced.

Jordan, despite his closeness to Pippen, didn’t want it to affect the team’s game, the Bulls were bigger than one individual.

In What You Can Change and What You Can’t*: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement, Martin E. Seligman states:

“Above all…change from “ego orientation” to “task orientation.” Think: “I know this seems like a personal insult, but it is not. It is a challenge to be overcome that calls on the skills I have.”

What Phil Jackson had done is to create task-orientation with character, players willing to put the task in hand ahead of themselves and air their disagreements openly. This can only happen with the absolute trust of teammates and their coach.

Pippen knew his value to the team as well as the game, and he put his ego aside.

Described as the “best teammate of all-time” by Jordan, Pippen missed almost half of the 82 game season but despite feeling undervalued and uncertain of his future he returned and played a massive part in the Bull’s sixth success. His stats were as impressive as ever, seemingly unaffected by the media circus surrounding him.

Humour is also a powerful tool in team contexts, and The Bulls’ team did find the right moments to enjoy a joke.

At the championship ceremony following the teams’ successful season in 1997, Steve Kerr famously said:

“When we called time-out with twenty-five seconds to go…we went into the huddle and Phil said, ‘Michael, I want you to take the last shot,’ and Michael said, ‘You know, Phil, I don’t feel comfortable in these situations. So maybe we ought to go in another direction.’ Why don’t we go to Steve?”

This was greeted with laughs and cheers from Jordan, Scottie Pippen and large swathes of the crowd as Kerr added: “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it”.

In reality, Kerr wasn’t expecting to take the shot. The play was for Jordan, but Jordan was crowded out, so it forced him to pass the ball to Kerr. Kerr hadn’t switched off. Kerr was ready and showed the character to step up to the plate.

Kerr’s shot was the last action of the 1997 NBA Finals vs Utah Jazz. The Chicago Bulls won the series 4–2 to claim their fifth Larry O’Brien trophy.

Reflective Questions:

Is there interdependence in your team?

Are you encouraged to be your own person? Are you and your team members accepting of one another?

Is there space for humour in your team?

unpslash.com — Mike Von

4. Adapt To Succeed

“When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.” James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

In the late eighties, The Bulls had talent, Jordan was the most valuable player in the league. They were desperate to win an era-defining first ring as NBA champions, but one thing kept knocking them back, the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons were an intimidating, physical and huge team.

The Bulls were being bullied.

From 1988 to 1990 the Bulls lost three Eastern Conference finals, beaten by the Pistons year on year.

Following a Jordan-inspired overtime loss in the regular season, Pistons’ coach Chuck Daly vowed he’d never let him ‘light them up again’ again. Daly famously implemented ‘The Jordan Rules’, effectively a way to bully, block and batter Jordan to prevent him from being able to dictate play.

The Bulls weren’t just losing; they were angry and embarrassed. Would they stick with what they had or go with something different?

As humans, we often stick with what we know, whether it be in our day-to-day job or how we organise our lives.

David Epstein in Range refers to this a ‘sunk cost fallacy’:

“Having invested time or money in something, we are loath to leave it, because that would mean we had wasted our time or money, even though it is already gone.”

Something different was needed, the Bulls needed to be brave — it was time to adapt to succeed.

With Phil Jackson appointed head coach in 1989. He, along with the assistance of Tex Winter, started to shape the Bulls into an efficient and well-drilled team. Winter’s triangle offence offered all players opportunities to contribute to a system of playing, which allowed creativity and depended on trust and effective decision making.

Now, they could win with Jordan in the team but no longer only when he was in the team,

“Practiced regularly (twice a day), relaxation or meditation prevents angry arousal.” — Martin E. Seligman, What You Can Change and What You Can’t*: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement

Jackson nicknamed the ‘Zen Master’ brought with him spiritual aspects of preparation influenced by eastern philosophies and native American practices such as meditation. The Bulls’ anger was redirected and became a useful laser-focused determination.

Following a third Eastern Conference Finals defeat at the hands of the Piston’s in 1990, Jordan had seen enough. After a gruelling season, Jordan demanded all players sacrifice their end of season break and direct their energies towards matching the Pistons for strength.

“There are no crowns waiting in the extra mile, on the extra mile we are on our own, just us and the challenge we’ve set ourselves.” James Kerr — Legacy: What The All Blacks Can Teach Us About The Business Of Life

Jordan’s request met no resistance; the pain of three defeats was enough for all players to put in the work away from the lights and glamour.

In the 1990–91 season, the Bulls recorded a then-franchise record 61 wins, and romped through the playoffs, eliminating defending champions Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and winning the NBA Finals in just five games over Magic Johnson’s LA Lakers.

Reflective Questions:

Does change cause feelings of anxiety in your team?

Does your team reflect and consider change? What needs to change and why?

What infinite possibilities could open up with change?

unsplash.com — Taylor Smith

5. Leaving a Legacy

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan — Nike advertisement

A quote recognisable the world over, and a reminder even the greatest don’t always get it right!

Imagine a world without Michael Jordan. What would you miss?

His performances at the Bulls? His impact on the NBA and Basketball worldwide? His terrible performance in the film ‘Space Jam’? Or maybe his Shoes?

Thirty-six years on, his shoe is still one of the best selling in the world.

The legacy Jordan was to create at Nike seemed almost as unlikely as a Bulls title back in 1984.

Nike was a track shoe brand, Jordan (and the rest of the NBA) wore Converse, and he was seeking a deal with Adidas. Cajoled by his mother and father into attending the meeting with Nike officials, Jordan signed an agreement to start one of the most legendary brand partnerships in the world.

Nike welcomed Jordan into their family, and both saw the infinite possibilities the partnership could bring. They quickly gave him his own shoe. The Nike Air Jordan legacy was born.

Millions still idolise Michael Jordan to this day. The Bulls are still being talked about over 20 years since they last won an NBA title. Indeed Last Dance’s popularity alone as a Top 10 show across the world shows in itself the legacy he and the Bulls have left.

His legacy and that of the Bulls is a journey we can all relate to and learn from, far from perfect and full of twists, turns and failures.

Their culture worked for them, and despite challenges, few can argue their success.

Kobe Bryant was seen as many to be the legacy of Jordan personified. An outstanding all-around player, his work ethic was unparalleled, and his focus unmatched in the modern game.

Kobe viewed Jordan as a mentor, and with his advice, he created his legacy on the court:

“Michael provided a lot of guidance for me. Like, I had a question about shooting his turnaround jump shot, so I asked him about it. And he gave me a great, detailed answer. But on top of that, he said, ‘If you ever need anything, give me a call.’

Reflective Questions:

Have you ‘left your shirt in a better place’ than when you arrived?

What will you and your team be remembered for creating, achieving or attempting?

How have you developed your role?

“I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent.” — Michael Jordan

Take some time to think of your five key considerations for developing team culture.

None of us start from scratch, we all build on legacies of others.

—

This is Part 2 of the Building Successful Teams collection by Lewis Keens and Alan Dunstan.

Part 1: Creating a Vision for PE and Sport

Director of Sport and Activities Lewis Keens and Curriculum Leader Alan Dunstan have worked together for seven years at the British School Manila, the Philippines.

Across a series of articles, they hope to share some experiences and knowledge of how to build successful and caring teams.

Follow us on Twitter: Lewis Keens @lewisjkeens and Alan Dunstan @ARJDunstan

Visit www.theinfinitelearners.com for more. Listen. Learn. Share
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