The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John C. Maxwell
Book Review by Andy Pan
Date of Review: 3rd January 2008

Don't you sometimes wish you had a success formula for teamwork for that dysfunctional team you were part of or even tried leading? Don't you wish you could really know what elements are needed in a successful team? My friend...the answer: go read The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John C. Maxwell.

Well....I was just browsing casually in the management and leadership section of a bookstore when I came across this book with such an eye-catching title. You mean there are laws with regards to teamwork? I guess I was about to find that out for myself. There were actually several books on team building on that same shelf but somehow, after reading a couple of pages, I kindda decided that this could well be a good buy after all.

Indeed, from the onset, this book got me hooked to its every page. Maxwell's provoking questions about teamwork and his fine examples kept me glued to his handiwork. As the title suggests, this teambuilding masterpiece separates each chapter with a new law that Maxwell has deemed to be essential in empowering any team. Be it the Law of the Big Picture or the Law of Mt. Everest, every chapter is filled with inspiring anecdotes and analogies, and not just fancy theories which have yet been tested. For example, in Law of Mt. Everest, this particular law professes that as our challenges as a team escalates the need for teamwork would elevate. In this chapter, Maxwell cites the detailed example of the arduous journey that Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary embarked on their way up to the summit of Mt. Everest in that fateful year of 1953.

Mount Everest, as many of us would know, is the tallest mountain above sea-level in the world. It is a majestic, formidable work of God that has stood unconquered for thousands of years, not until a unique pairing of a Nepalese and a New Zealander came along. In any Everest climb, Tenzing and his fellow Nepalese porters, or Sherpas as they are still known, would, literally, be the arms and legs of the expedition team. Their job is to help carry tons of equipment up and down the Himalayas, ease the supply flow and set up camps at various inhospitable locations. During this historic ascent, Tenzing was the Sherpa leader. “Tenzing would have to hire between two and three hundred people just to get the supplies in the vicinity of the mountain.”

As the climbers inched towards the summit at every level, a greater degree of teamwork was required. A group of Sherpas would tire themselves out just to ease the passage for the next group, by finding suitable paths, cutting steps and securing ropes. And then they were done. Whatever hard work that they have put in was for the next team to make the next leg of the climb possible for another. Of this, Tenzing once remarked, “You do not climb a mountain like Everest by trying to race ahead on your own or by competing with your comrades. You do it slowly and carefully…………..by unselfish teamwork…..”

This is the “mountain way”. This is an effective team-based mountaineering method that enabled only two pairs, out of the two to three hundred climbers, to make the penultimate attempt up to the Everest summit. Eventually, only Tenzing and Edmund Hillary reached that impossible peak and carved their famous names into world history. The following was what Tenzing wrote in his book:

“…..For where would Hillary and I have been without the others? Without the climbers who had made the route and the Sherpas who had carried the loads? Without Bourdillon and Evans, Hun and Da Nmgyal, who had cleared the way ahead? Without Lowe and Gregory, Ang Hyima, Ang Tempra and Penba, who were there only to help us? It was only because of the work and sacrifice of all of them that we were now to have our chance on top.”

Stories, like this, about determination, team spirit and human tenacity, which shone so brightly among the men and women, who were involved in them, really tell us that sometimes it is only in the face of challenges that we can see how strong a team truly is. Would your team crumble or conquer in the face of challenges? Do we exhibit such selfless teamwork in the event of adversity? This tale of Everest is only the tip of the iceberg as the whole book is peppered with amazing stories that will leave you hooked and inspired.

So, if you want to know more about what actually makes your team tick, I would strongly recommend this stirring paperback for a good read. No doubt....these laws are almost indisputable.