The keyword in culture is "Cult." Much of the conditioning we give young people is to inculturate them into way of thinking that is to our liking.
Like a pride of lions or a troop of chimpanzees, man is a social animal and is unlikely, except in a very few cases, able to survive alone in the natural environment. Man is also a nurturing mammal where generally, both parents of a child help take care of that child until it reaches adulthood and is capable of going out on its own. In time, regardless of differences, family will always pull together at a time of crisis.
The survival value of the family, the tribe, the village, and the nation, has led us into a complex set of values and mores that we needed in order to live beyond simple hunting and gathering where we lived long or short lives at the whim of nature or good luck. So, from our parents first teaching us to get along with our siblings, we are taught that our survival, at least our social and cultural survival, depended on teamwork, for we cannot, and should not, go it alone.
And so we are asked to become a member of a church, join the choir, play in the band, participate in clubs and develop social networks or cliques for our own social development and survival. We are taught that we have leaders and followers and that certain people are destined to be leaders and the rest of us must be loyal and cooperative followers. If we do not cooperate there are punishments, beginning with parentile sanctions like the old-fashioned "whipping" and the modern day, "timeout." There is a great deal of societal pressure to conform and become, "part of the team." Team sports are good example of the conditioning that is required to prepare young people for adult life with terms like "sacrifice" and "sportsmanship." All of these measures are carefully cultivated to create a society that is much more follower than a leader. Those that figure out how to become leaders often take advantage of the advantage and misuse their followers. So, in effect, those that are appropriately conditioned enter the various cults of society, whether they be educational, military, religious, governmental, or corporate and become part of them.
As long as everyone cooperates and does as they are told, they can rise in the organization according to the strict rules laid down by the organization, and eventually reach a leadership position or not. Once reaching leadership, their lifelong training in the dogma of the organization insures that they will lead the organization in the same manner that it has been before--right or wrong. Teamwork and cooperation is alien to change and wants everything to remain the way it was because that's the way it's always been--at least as far as the organization is concerned.
Those that study the lifecycle of organizations large and small have found that they follow the path of an "S" shaped curve. They start out rather weak and slowly, and many do not survive their initiation. But if they survive the initial period, they grow rapidly and exponentially until they reach a point of critical mass where they no longer hold together in a cooperative entity, are unsustainable, break apart, and decline. The Roman Empire is a good example that is often used. The Roman Empire contained greatness in art, literature and engineering, along with military science and government. But the Roman Empire was based on slavery, the brutality of conquest and dismal daily life for most of its citizens that is often overlooked in face of Rome's glorious accomplishments.
If one examines change and finds its source, one finds that new ideas and change come from individuals; people who often act alone and in defiance to the cultural norm. We often call them "heroes" and "change agents" for their influence on society. It takes a great deal of courage to move out from the expected norm of teamwork and act alone, become an entrepreneur of the spirit, and get others to follow you merely because your idea is better than what was before.
So, my reader, my purpose here is to ask you to think about leaving all the teams that you're part of and devote more time to developing your own individualism regardless of the lack of comradeship or need for social stroking. Free your mind from the shackles of the team and become your own traveler into the realm of a new beginning where the world will be transformed for the better and the old will be left behind as it should be, to die and become merely history.
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