That goes for some people, I think. I've found teaching others helped me understand English grammar better, but I didn't need to understand it to speak the language properly. Just to name one example. Now, of course, the knowledge comes in very handy what with me going to be teaching English anyway.

We have a kind of school, over here, which does group people by abiliy (and does all sorts of other things the "better", creative way) but I haven't met anyone who attended it, so I couldn't say if it is any good. From what I hear, its students do seem a little... strange at times. And they often don't know how to compete for grades. Not that that is a necessary skill. It's just something you encounter at uni once you leave the protected environment of the school playground.

To be fair, I think teamwork at the workplace is not that different from teamwork at school. A few good people do most of the work and complain, the others do nothing and complain, everyone hates each other guts. But mostly they hate the boss. Me. Really. If I sound unhappy with my job right now, it's because I am.

By the way, are there any bosses out there? Do you feel the same? Or is it just me?

I've had really good bosses, really bad bosses and I've been the boss. I've only come close to hating one boss.

I really don't have your experience with teamwork in the workplace. The teams I've been on always included people who all had very different skill sets, so it wasn't like it would even be possible for one person to do all the work. It's not like the graphic artist could write SQL, or either of us could write content. And so on.

To me, the boss is simply the person whose job is to make sure the business doesn't go down the tubes, like my business did when I was the boss. They're also supposed to make sure people have what they need to do their jobs and make sure they have the right people for job. There's nothing special about being a boss -- it's a job like any other. Some people are good at it, some are bad at it, most are okay or good enough at it.

I guess I really envy you then, Maryh. For me, being the boss is simply the most difficult thing in the world. Dealing with the egos and vanities of seven journalists, some of which want to take your guts out at every turn? Not easy, by any means.
But maybe I'm just not fit for it...

Teamwork is such a tricky thing. I grew up playing team sports, so I have this inherant longing to do things as a team. On the other side, I am an independant cuss and I love working by myself. I manage 3 departments here. One department is unto myself (writing/programming Company reports), the other 2 i have 3 people reporting to me (as Inventory Manager of a rental company.)

Learning how to delegate has been a constant challenge and struggle, but I have really great people working here, one of whom is constantly challenging me to let go of stuff. The other two do their jobs, both of which are highly detailed/continual process jobs, efficiently and excellently. Best of all, they all get along together well. To try to maximize teamwork, I have cross trained all the positions, so if one is out or on vacation, the next in line can cover their job.

On the other side, almost every boss has a boss. I have a great boss after years and years of really bad bosses. I am so grateful for this. The company has tried to restructure me multiple times away from my boss, but I keep fighting to keep him as my supervisor. He knows me well enough to just let me do my job, see problems, fix them, but keep him in the loop as to what I'm doing.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that being a boss is easy. In fact, when I was the boss I ran my [very small] business into the ground. I hate supervising people and doing all the "outside" stuff a boss has to do. So I really appreciate someone who can do that.

All I meant was that being a boss is just a job like any other, with its own skillset. Bosses are sometimes regarded as both more powerful than they really are on one hand, and as if they don't do any "real" work on the other hand.

You're right, of course. And those two miconceptions contribute to make my life more difficult, sometimes. People just think I can solve anything. And, sometimes, they treat me like I'm useless. Go figure...