Category Archives: Teams

Ordinary People

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“My team is a bunch of idiots,” Paula started. “They can’t get anything right. Everything they touch turns to rust.”

“Oh, really?” I replied. “When did this start?”

“Always been this way,” she said.

I nodded. “Before you were promoted to manager, weren’t you a member of this team? Were they idiots then? Were you one of the idiots?”

“Okay, okay,” Paula agreed. “Maybe I was an idiot, back then. It’s just so frustrating being a manager. I wish I could get better people on my team.”

“Why would that make a difference?” I asked.

“If I had better people, I could get better results,” she pursed her lips with a defiant look in her eyes.

“So, you think you would get extraordinary results if you had extraordinary people?” I prodded.

“Yes, absolutely,” Paula sat up straight.

“What if I told you there were not that many extraordinary people out there. That most people are just like you and me, more ordinary than brilliant. Your challenge, as a manager, is to get extraordinary results from ordinary people. If that were true, what would you do? What would you work on? By the way, if you WERE able to get extraordinary results from ordinary people, maybe your team wouldn’t look so ordinary.”

Contain the Steam

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Aspirations are good, but not the best measure of potential success. It’s not the aspiration of a developed skill, but the reality of the lowest capability on the team. You stand for what you tolerate.

When times are good, things are smooth, the flywheel turns over predictably well. We can tolerate a bit of underperformance, even cover it over, make excuses for it and little difference is noticed. It’s when the pressure cranks up, deadlines get tight, specifications to three decimal places, that underperformance emerges with its full impact.

Your team’s ability for success does not depend on your aspirations, but depends on the capability of the weakest, the newbie, the slowest, the person not paying attention.

Do not sing songs of inclusion. Select well, induct, train and test. For one day, the cork will seal the pressure cooker and everything will depend on the weakest seal to contain the steam.

Competence Distorted

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How we fool ourselves. It’s not a question, it’s an observation. Each of us has a sense of our own competence. And, we have a version we keep tucked inside and a version we portray to the world. Woe to the person whose versions get too far apart.

Others can listen to your version of competence and in short order observe the difference in your story and reality. They may accept a slight space of difference, chalk it up to braggadocios. Or are willing to keep quiet about the distortion as a quid pro quo to their own sense of exaggerated competence.

The competent individual knows exactly what they are capable of and where they underperform or fail. The competent individual needs no distortion because their underperformance is not permanent. Each day, they make moves toward mastery, inch by inch, with a firm grasp of capability in hand, a fixed vision of the goal and the willingness to proceed in the face of failure. The competent individual, most importantly, possesses the competence of learning.

The competent organization, most importantly, possesses the competence of a learning organization.

Dimensions of Organizational Competence

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We watch sports on television to give us meaning. It’s an odd statement. Why do the Olympics attract such a large audience? We do not gather around our screens to witness mediocre performance. We can do that at our local park, where there are no throngs of spectators. Without competence, life is half-hearted. Competence is the spark that drives full throated experience.

Individual competence is a delight to watch. It is about repetition, training, discipline. Team performance brings new dimensions of coordination, sacrifice, humility, selflessness, celebration. Those are the elements of team competence, the competent organization.

Teams and Competence

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What does it mean to be a team player? This is not cliché. Most companies eventually find a great salesperson (or other important role) who makes rain, head and shoulders above the others, but simultaneously creates havoc within the team. They are a great individual performer, given leeway, slack, permission to dance around the rules, yet in the end are destructive to the organization.

You cannot build an organization solely focused on individual performers. The way the team works together becomes more important than any individual on the team. Yes, you need Steph Curry to drain a shot from downtown, but someone has to inbound and pass him the ball.

Building a competent organization goes beyond individual competence.

Individual performers have their own vision of the way the world works and how they intend to make their mark on the world. How do you capture that attention to get those individuals to work as a team? A dramatic shift occurs when we invert our understanding how goals drive behavior. It is not that a person has a goal, but that a goal has the person. It is not that the team has a goal, but that the goal has the team. It attracts the team, pulls them together in coordinated synchronicity.

We give short shrift to mission statements, vision statements, with flowery language. What is a marriage if it is only two individual performers under the same roof? Its mission must be more or the marriage will underperform. What is an organization if it is only a set of individual performers collected in the same room? Its mission must be more or the organization will underperform.

Without an ironclad focus, it will never become a competent organization. This is not a goal the team has. This is a goal that has the team.

Still the Team’s Solution

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“You are still going to use the team to solve their own problem, but you are going to provide leadership to make it happen,” I said.

“So, how am I supposed to pull them out of their malaise,” Rory asked.

“First, you have to be crystal clear with the work instructions.
People will follow general direction with general responses.. If you need specific output, your work instructions must be very specific.”

“So, this is on me,?” Rory clarified.

“Yes,” I said. “That is who I am talking to. You are the leader, this is on you.”

“Okay, what does it sound like?”

“First, does the way that you state the problem have any bearing on the way we approach the solution?” I smiled.

Rory nodded.

“Be crystal clear about the goal. The first step is to make sure there is no ambiguity about what the solution looks like. Then announce there may be several ways to get there. And, it is up to the team to generate those ideas. In that declaration, you have silenced their inner critic and opened the door to explore new paths to solve the problem.”

“I’m listening,” Rory said.

“With only one idea, everyone is a critic. With multiple ideas, we can discuss the merits, workability and effectiveness. Your team will not get there without you. That is your role.

A Question of Confidence

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“Why do you think your team is underperforming?” I asked. “I’m not sure,” Rory replied. “Well, let’s start with what you see,” I nodded. “If you stand back and just observe, what do you see?  What do you hear?” “Okay, if I just report what I see, the team second-guesses itself. They know the goal. They each stand around watching and waiting for someone to make the first move. Somebody eventually does. Then, there is the big question – Are you sure?  Asked in that way, everyone stops.” “Without direction, isn’t it prudent to ask that question?” I wanted to know. “Yes, but it’s not a question of clarification, it’s a question of confidence,”  Rory explained.  “Every member of the team is looking for the down side, to protect themselves, protect the team.” “Protect the team from what?” I probed. “Protect the team from failure, I guess.  I am a pretty easy going manager, so I know people are going to make mistakes, but, even still, when there is a setback, they can tell I get a little testy.” “It’s a natural reaction.  When we touch a hot stove, it’s a good idea not to linger.”  I squinted to look inside Rory’s eyes.  “Getting testy comes with the territory.  It’s a gut reaction to let us know something is wrong. The question is what do you do about it?” “What do you mean?” Rory asked. “Do you let the team wallow in ambiguity, wondering what you will do with your disappointment?  Or do you circle the wagons and work your way out?” “My question is the same,” Rory said.  “What do you mean?” “The team came up with one way to proceed, but didn’t have confidence in the direction.  You and I both know there are at least a half dozen different ways to get the job done, any of which will work just fine.  The team is afraid they will pick the wrong one.  This is not a matter of methodology.  This is a question of confidence, confidence to explore, confidence to debate, confidence to disagree, then agree and commit.  The question is what do you, as the leader, do about it?”

The Best of Intentions

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“But everyone understood that we had to land the project for the team to get their bonus,” Lindsey protested.

“No, you understood that. The team understood something different. If they gave it their best and worked really hard, the team would get the bonus. So, they worked really hard and gave it their best. The only person who was in position to make decisions was the manager. The team didn’t get their bonus because of their manager.”

Lindsey was quiet. “So, we set up a system that, in the end, created a divide between the manager and the team.”

But, the Team Missed the Deadline

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Lindsey had a puzzled look on her face. “I don’t understand. The team missed the deadline. We lost the project. If not the team, who do we hold accountable for the result? And believe me, this was a big deal. There was a big team bonus riding on this project.”

I started, slowly. “Who knew about the project first? Who had knowledge about the context of the project among all the other projects in the company? Who had the ability to allocate additional personnel to the project team to meet the deadline? Who had the authority to bump other project schedules to meet this deadline? Who was in a position to authorize overtime for this project?”

“Well, the Memphis team Manager,” she replied.

Succession

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“That’s it?” Rose looked puzzled.  “But, I work with a bunch of engineers.  I am their manager.  The engineering team looks to me for advice, guidance and direction.  Given a problem, they look to me for the solution.  You are suggesting that I just ask questions?”

“Rose, how did you land this job as a manager of a bunch of engineers? Was it because you are so good at solving engineering problems?” I asked.

“No, I am not even an engineer, though I think I have an aptitude for it, that’s not my area of expertise.”

“Then, how did you land this job as manager of engineering?”

Rose stopped to think. “This is the third department assigned to me in as many years. The company has a trouble spot. They make me the manager. I come in and get things organized, figure out the team, who is strong, who the ringleaders are, who needs to go. For about a year, I work with the strongest team members and pick one to take my place.”

“So what’s your plan here?” I wanted to know.

“Same thing,” Rose nodded. “Get things organized, figure out the team. Pick the strongest one to replace me. It will take about a year. I have already been told not to get too comfortable, the company is already working on my next assignment.”