Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing were members of the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, also known as the original “Dream Team,” which won gold. Years later, we still remember and admire this team. So why don’t we love the star-filled 2004 team, which included LeBron James, Allen Iverson, and Carmelo Anthony, just as much? Like the 1992 team, they were all exceptional players, but overall, they were an inferior team.

What set the original Dream Team members apart was their ability to work together and bring out the best in each other. This is what differentiates a good from a great project team as well.

You know that success requires getting the best players on your team. You’ve done an impressive job of picking out the MVPs in each field to build your team—the best salespeople, finance people, and marketing people you can get. But there’s something missing, and your team’s performance is dragging because of it. Your players may not have the skills to use their innate strengths to work with each other effectively and bring up the performance of the whole team.

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