Teamwork might seem like a complicated subject, but to some creatures, it comes naturally as a way to survive and expend the least amount of energy.

According to a BBC News story, scientists taped heart monitors to great white pelicans. These birds had been trained to fly behind a light aircraft and a boat, and a team was able to observe them during their flight. Pelicans, it is known, fly in "squadron" formation, or in a "V" shape, and they flap their wings in time with their leader. Scientists, now able to observe and gather data from the heart monitors, found that the birds' heartbeats were lower when they flew in formation than when they flew solo. Their heart rates slowed because they were able to benefit from each other's air streams. They were also able to glide more.

Working together, the birds were able to accomplish their migratory goals by expending less energy and being able to fly farther than when they are alone. It seems that there is a lesson here, and it's not for the birds. Animals of all types develop certain behaviors because it helps them to migrate, feed or survive more easily. The entire group benefits because less energy is required to perform the greater task at hand.

In human terms, even the most seasoned pilots need a control tower and ground crew.

Lester C. Thurow, economist and dean of the Sloan School of Management, said: "There is nothing antithetical in American history, culture or traditions to teamwork. Teams were important in America's history -- wagon trains conquered the West, men working together on the assembly line in American industry conquered the world, a successful national strategy and a lot of teamwork put an American on the moon first (and thus far, last).

"But American mythology extols only the individual -- the Lone Ranger or Rambo. In America, halls of fame exist for almost every conceivable activity, but nowhere do Americans raise monuments in praise of teamwork."

Why is that? I can think of no single feat that was accomplished without a little help. From the greatest minds in the world to the most successful corporations, no one can honestly claim they did it all alone. It's often said it takes "a village to raise a child." I believe that village is also necessary to contribute to any level of success in adulthood as well. This world is simply too big a place to go it alone.

A story in the Harvard Business Review illustrates the importance of teamwork at every level. While many Westerners might think that consensus is characteristic of Japanese culture, institutionalized conflict is an integral part of Japanese management.

"At Honda, any employee, however junior, can call for a "waigaya" session. The rules are that people lay their cards on the table and speak directly about problems.

"Nothing is out of bounds, from supervisory deficiencies on the factory floor to perceived lack of support for a design team.

"'Waigaya' legitimizes tension so that learning can take place."

That example emphasizes the importance of every member of the team and how a real team should function. Each member should be able to contribute strengths and ideas; otherwise, the concept of team is meaningless.

Once upon a time, there was an enterprising businessman who had a fantastic idea. He figured out a way to build the perfect automobile. He hired a team of young engineers and told them to buy one of every car model in the world and dismantle them.

He instructed them to pick out the best part from every car and to place it in a special room. Soon the room was filled with parts judged by the group to be the best engineered in the world -- the best carburetor, the best set of brakes, the best steering wheel, the best transmission, and so on. It was an impressive collection -- more than 5,000 parts in all. Then he had all the parts assembled into one automobile -- the pick of the world, so to speak.

There was only one problem: It didn't work! The automobile refused to function. The parts would not work together.

It's the same with people. A team of people or things with a common objective and harmony can be superior to a group of individual "all-stars" any day.

Mackay's Moral: TEAM: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

Bill Bradley recently spoke to a group of Minnesota Timberwolves season ticketholders. The topic wasn't his stellar career, basketball strategy or memorable wins. Instead, he talked about unselfishness. After 40 years of traveling America as a Hall of Fame basketball player and a U.S. senator, the Rhodes scholar has a lot of stories to tell about the remarkable, unselfish accomplishments of people both famous and unknown. He features them during his weekly "American Voices" program on Sirius/XM Radio.

Bradley briefly talked about his two NBA championships with the New York Knicks and how unselfish his teams were. They wanted to be champions more than they wanted individual achievements.

That's why I love team sports. Players learn not only the power of teamwork, but also how to be unselfish, regardless of their individual abilities.

Another basketball superstar, Michael Jordan, won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. His personal accomplishments on the court give him bragging rights beyond compare. Yet he wrote in his book, "I Can't Accept Not Trying": "There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."

Businesses should operate the same way. Every organization has star performers whose skills and talents are evident. If they are smart, they have developed as their biggest asset the ability to work with others.

So many projects require teamwork in order to come to a successful conclusion. But watch what happens when one member of the team claims the victory. Morale goes in the tank. The next group effort becomes a competition. Communication is stifled. The results suffer for lack of a variety of ideas.

President Harry Truman summed it up so well: "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

The example needs to come from the top. Management needs to send a clear message that every member of the organization is vital to the success of the group. Good leaders must demonstrate sincere unselfishness when celebrating achievements and share the credit and successes with the group.

We have marvelous examples of unselfishness throughout American history. Ask any military veteran about how loyalty and unselfishness were drilled into them throughout their training and service. They often had to depend on each other in dangerous situations. And while you're at it, thank them for their service to our country.

Perhaps the most incredible example of unselfishness is the little check mark you might have on your driver's license to be an organ donor. Blood donors also make my radar screen for sharing a precious gift with someone they will never know, but who will be forever grateful.

Unselfishness is all around us. We just need to follow the lead of those folks, and not be afraid to translate it to all areas of life.

There once were two brothers whose father had died and left them the family farm. One was married and had a large family to support. The other was single. The will designated that the two brothers would share everything equally.

One day the single brother said to himself, "It's not right that we should share equally. I'm alone and my needs are simple." So every night he took a sack of grain from his bin and secretly dumped it into his brother's bin.

Meanwhile, the married brother said to himself, "It's not right that we should share the produce and the farm's profit equally. After all, I am married and I will have my wife and grown children to look after me in the years ahead. My brother has no one." So each night he took a sack of grain and dumped it secretly into his single brother's bin.

For years both men were puzzled as to why their personal supply of grain never dwindled. Then one dark night the two brothers bumped into each other and it suddenly dawned on them what had been happening.

Mackay's Moral: You'll never lose credibility if you share the credit.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the 20th anniversary of this column. This year, I also celebrate another important anniversary -- 25 years since I published my first book, "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive."

"Sharks" is still selling briskly around the world after all this time because the concepts haven't changed. This is why "Swim With the Sharks" became the success it did, especially coming from a then-unknown author from the flyover state of Minnesota.

Books from first-time authors typically have print runs of 7,500 to 10,000 copies, which is only a couple books per store. This makes it much easier for publishers to recoup their losses if the books don't sell well. But I knew that to really give "Sharks" a chance, I needed a first printing of 100,000 copies. We were meeting on the 28th floor of a New York skyscraper when I asked my publishers for a print run that size. They practically told me to jump.

Fortunately, I brought in two huge briefcases with two large Rolodex files (remember, this was 1988) containing more than 6,500 names from all over the world, including my connections with major companies, organizations and associations. That helped convince the publisher, William Morrow, to print 100,000 copies. "Sharks" was No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list for 54 weeks.

As much as I love the title "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive," a lot of people mistakenly thought I was advocating becoming a shark. Rather, my message then and now is to give people the tools to get along and work with sharks.

I'm often asked to name the No. 1 piece of advice in the book. No contest: It's using the Mackay 66 Customer Profile, which is available for free on my website, www.harveymackay.com. The Mackay 66 is a tool that helps humanize your selling strategy and take business relationships to a personal level. You can't talk about business all the time, so it's important to learn about your customer's education, family, hobbies and interests, favorite sports teams, vacation habits, previous employment, professional and trade associations, clubs, and so on. In other words, know what turns that person on. If you build a good relationship, you will not only get the order, you'll get all the reorders.

And this is not just for customers. It's also for suppliers. Use the Mackay 66 for employees and competitors -- anyone you can benefit from knowing more about. Each time you encounter those persons, you learn a little bit more about them and keep building your list.

"Swim With the Sharks" is divided into sections on salesmanship, negotiation and management. That's why the subtitle is so appropriate -- "Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate and Outnegotiate Your Competition."

Its sales lessons include:

-- It's not how much it's worth; it's how much people think it's worth.

-- The sale begins when the customer says yes (customer service).

-- Writing personal notes yields positive results.

-- If you don't have a destination, you'll never get there.

-- Fantasizing and projecting yourself into successful situations is one of the most powerful means there is to achieve personal goals.

Essential to successful negotiations are these ideas:

-- The most important thing in any negotiation is the ability to say no.

-- Everything is negotiable.

-- Agreements prevent disagreements.

-- The most important term in any contract isn't in the contract; it's dealing with people who are honest.

-- Make decisions with your heart and you'll end up with heart disease.

-- If you burn bridges, you better be a damn good swimmer.

Top management lessons include:

-- It's not the people you fire who make your life miserable; it's the people you don't fire who make your life miserable.

-- You'll always get the good news; it's how quickly you get the bad news that counts.

-- Little things don't mean a lot; they mean everything.

-- Practice makes perfect is not true. You have to add one word: Perfect practice makes perfect.

-- The single biggest mistake a manager can make is a bad hire.

-- You can't solve a problem unless you first admit you have one.

Sharing what I have learned in my decades of business has been pure delight. When I revised and updated "Sharks" in 2005, I challenged myself to see how much of my own advice I was still following. I can honestly report that my formula continues to keep me safe in shark-infested waters.

Mackay's Moral: People's lives change in two ways: The people we meet and the books we read.