What if you measured the team?

If I obsessed about individual performance, I wouldn’t post this photo online.

Last week, I took part in my cycling club’s annual Bedford to Brighton ride. At over 200 km (125 miles) it’s a big challenge. For many it was the longest day in the saddle they’d ever done.

This was my third trip and every time it’s been an epic day out. This year, I’ve done a lot of riding so I felt strong on the bike.

But it was by far my slowest time. Why? Well we had around 30 riders in total and we’d agreed to split into three groups. I’d offered to lead the third group – a slightly steadier pace for people who didn’t want to mix it with the fast group.

And so we formed a team of nine. Mixed abilities, mixed experience, mixed bike tech. And we all agreed – we start as a team, and we finish as a team.

So the goal became that – get everyone safely down to Brighton, in time for a beer and fish & chips on the beach.

We had a few mechanicals on the way, and we had to regroup when the group got spread out. We also had evening rush hour traffic to navigate through – one of those unavoidable realities that tests your patience and planning.

And we got there. Nearly two hours after the first group, but content, safe and full of pride at our achievement.

If I’d been measuring individual performance, I’d have failed completely. But I wasn’t.

If we’d left everyone to ride on their own – measuring individual times – we’d have taken well over our collective average of 9 hours.

But by working as a team, keeping the pace steady with few surges, we achieved something like those variable speed limits you get on busy motorways. More people got there quicker, because we worked together.

Teams are more than their top performer. Yet how often do we actually see them working like that?

We have to stop obsessing over the single outperforming stars and recognise that we get more done together.

What would change if you measured your team’s collective success rather than ranking individual contributors?