A model for "perfect teamwork"?

A recent commentary report in the United Kingdom's Telegraph proposes that a rowing crew (in particular the "light blues" of Cambridge University) is a model of "perfect teamwork". (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/rowing/5044937/Cambridge-University-Boat-crew---The-perfect-team-model.html)
Having spent over 8 years as a member of collegiate and post-collegiate crews, and also having spent many, many years studying teams, I am largely in agreement.
However, the rowing crew lacks one thing that *most* teams are in sore need of - individual accountability. In a rowing crew, all members of the crew (with the lone exception of the coxswain) perform the exact same role, and there is no measurement of individual performance when the boat is on the water. (yes, I know, there is a huge amount of individual performance measures before the crew is assembled - I am well aware of erg scores, seat races, etc. - but once the crew is set and on the water, there is no individual measure).
Rowing crews make up for this lack of individual accountability through countless hours in training and competition - both as a collective unit and as individuals. This extensive period of practice allows the members of the crew to develop trust that each member will perform to his or her highest levels, despite the fact that there are no individual measures of performance.
Business organizations do not have the luxury of spending hundreds of hours in "practice". Their imperative is to get the team up, running, and in performance mode as soon as possible. They don't have the time to build up huge levels of trust between team members.
However, business organizations put teams together to take advantage of individual differences. Therefore, these teams not only can have individual roles (and thus individual accountability) but *should* have those individual roles and accountability.

However, we need to remember that teams are a technology that we have imported (imperfectly) from the sports world. Therefore, we need to make sure that we *adapt* this technology to our own needs, rather than simply adopting it unthinkingly.