One of the reasons why people are unable to stand each other’s company is the lack of so-called “chemistry.” What this “chemistry” really is, no one actually knows. And yet, this very “chemistry” is critical to any team’s ultimate performance.

Is there a way to quanitify and measure chemistry?

Check out: Team Chemistry Is the New Holy Grail of Performance Analytics

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Glossary

• quip – a clever or witty remark or comment
• wistful – characterized by melancholy; longing; yearning
• notorious – widely and unfavorably known
• decamp – to depart from a camp; to pack up equipment and leave a camping ground
• quant – an expert in quantitative analysis
• make a killing – make a killing

Think about it

Answer the questions below.

•  What is “the ‘franchise of the future’ challenge haunting sports’ brightest minds and biggest wallets?”
• What is Phil Jackson notorious for?
• What is George Karl’s opinion on quantifying chemistry?
• Is NBA or NFL a good analogue to gigantic global enterprises? Where do they all converge?
• What is the author’s conclusion about the future of “team chemistry?”

Practice makes perfect

Each of the sentences below has a mistake. Find it and correct it. Find the sentences in the original article to check your answers.

• But this was the first time attending the event where so much of the top-tier athletic luminaries—particularly coaches and managers—spoke so wistfully and ambitiously about the analytic alchemy that can turn teammates into champions.
• How do you identify, blend, develop, train and coach a mix of talents into wholes measurably greater than the sum of its parts?
• More quantitative attention is paying to how well players improve the in-game performances of their teammates.
• Sport teams, of course, compete in physical time and space.
• You can do an excellent living making research in physical and/or inorganic chemistry. (This sentence has two mistakes :))

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