Over the past decades, the ways of different approaches towards any sort of work have been changed radically. The fact of an undoubted progress and development in varied spheres of human life is more than evident. However, among all the achievements and growth, there are still some issues on such basic levels as communication and cooperation. There are more than enough examples of people who are able to present their work in a great way as individuals but cannot cooperate with others; and when it comes to the teamwork, it causes a huge problem or even a conflict situation.

From the psychological point of view, this phenomenon is quite normal and common since the roots of the misunderstanding or simply a problematic situation is in the uniqueness of each individual, different attitude and approach. It may sound trivial, yet the fact that two persons never think alike is true. Therefore, there may be some arguments, misunderstanding, and inconsistency.
Normally, in the case of an appeared problem, one side decides to tolerate or to agree with another one. This may be called negotiation, persuasion or sort of ‘giving up’ for the sake of common peace. However, there are still some examples of people who stand their ground until the end and once they face the same person, which is ready for everything to prove own rightness, the fact of tolerance and agreement vanishes. Moreover, it is usually substituted with anger, sometimes even hatred and durable silence between both sides. This way, people who are able to create something wonderful and extraordinary together give up even the idea of any possible communication and cooperation.

The possible reason for the problem may lay in a subconscious unwillingness to accept other people’s idea as a supreme one, as it will simultaneously mean that yours is not that good. The fact of competitiveness also plays a significant role and it is normal to have a willing to be the one, others listen to. However, the point I want to pay the most attention to is egoism and an encoded idea of being the one, others do not even deserve. The one that has these features is not only unable to cooperate; such a person simply does not give a room for any possible ideas other than his own. The main principle such people follow is “either my way or no way at all”, and they really mean it. They are literally ready to “break up” with everyone, including colleagues, friends and even family members just for the reason that they are not like-minded or see a certain situation differently. The point of being alone does not seem for them as terrifying as to accept that they are wrong or that another point of view is as viable as their own.

By this, I am not trying to state that it is incredibly bad to have such an attitude. There are many examples of individuals who have reached an edge of success solitary, going their way alone and usually against commonly accepted ideas. Sometimes, exactly this fact made them great and remarkable. However, there is always another side of a coin which, in this situation, is certain emptiness and broken relations with people who could not only double or even triple their success/happiness/achievements/etc., but also to fulfill the missing part. Moreover, even if to leave the idea of achieving success, human is a social creature. The idea of staying in a commune is inherited from nature and once we go against this basic rule, we gain one thing by losing another, which often is not of an equal value.

On this point, from a sociological perspective, social interaction is a common word, less common in use. Most people are impressive when it comes to teamwork. However, some face difficulty, when working with others. The question is what makes one person different from other. To realize this, we need to understand that, it is the way socialization works. Some people have a positive attitude towards working with their colleagues. While others show skills by working alone, which can sometimes lead to social dilemma when they face a teamwork situation. This affects the organization, as every individual is an asset to an organization where different ideas matter. Unless and until issues in cooperation among people are not resolved in an efficient manner, teamwork cannot work effectively.

Meanwhile, it is worthier to identify the issues that put a barrier between an individual and the team, sociologically. Firstly, a person faces difficulty in interacting with others. This may be justified to the way he grew up, and the society in which he grew up. In this case, society matters, as if a society does not have community discussions, do not know their neighbors, then that society will most probably fail to bring up a person who, in the foreseeable future, will have to face a group in which he has to work. Furthermore, social groups provide a ground for individuals in which they can discuss different ideas, share experiences, and get to know each other. However, if no such groups exist, a person will confront issues in cooperation with other people in a work environment.

On the other hand, a person might get along with his friends in an informal situation. He shares his views, ideas with them. But when he has to face a formal situation, like in an office, he fails to express his views. In my opinion, people do not cooperate due to the way society has changed abruptly throughout this century. People have adopted new ways to comfort themselves when faced by a teamwork situation. For instance, most people will get an excuse from a meeting, in order to hide this discrepancy. Or even if they cooperate, they will not achieve a better result needed for that particular situation.

Taking everything into account, we may see that such common and basic phenomenon as cooperation is usually underestimated. While trying to defend personal ideas, believes and principles, people usually forget about this part and parcel of successful relationships, working process, and life in general. It is vital to understand that the ability to cooperate and communicate is the initial point while omitting which, one may lose much more than to gain. This applies not only to the internal world of a person and the psychological perspective. It is also quite noticeable on a more “upper” level which is a sociological one. According to the sociological perspective, social groups matter as it has a direct influence on the way a person interacts with others. While failing to give output in a teamwork and not knowing how to cooperate and communicate with others, one may be impressive at working alone. However, as mentioned above, teamwork has a much better effect since each and everyone tries to contribute. Therefore, in some cases, the ability to cooperate may be prior to individual skills. We live in social word and the process of not only communication but also cooperation is inevitable. The only thing we need to understand is that unless people start to leave their ego and give a room for other people’s thoughts and ideas, teamwork cannot be viable.