Tag Archives: teams

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.

A Manager’s Direction

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Rory stared. “You are right, it’s not which method is the best method. Does the team have the confidence to figure out the best method?  As long as they are afraid to make a mistake, they will never generate more ideas to solve the problem.”

“And, where is that shift in mental state going to come from?” I asked.

Rory knew exactly where I was going with this. “I see,” he said.
“You want me to get involved?”
“You are the manager,” I smiled. “In what way could we move the team to generate more alternatives, debate those alternatives and then agree on the best one for today?”

“I was hoping they would figure this out on their own,” Rory replied.

“Well, you could wait,” I smiled. “Or you could move things along as the leader.”

“But, if I get involved, it’s going to slow things down,” he protested.

I nodded. “I would rather spend some time to figure out a committed direction, than wonder about a half baked idea that may or may not solve the problem.”

Stupid Game

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“It’s like I don’t trust them to do their best without a bonus, and they know it,” Alicia explained.

“It sets up this stupid game and now people have excuses for their behavior. I’m not going to do this or that, because I don’t get a bonus for it. And people are smart. If this is the game, they will figure out how to take advantage.”

“And what about you?” I asked.

Alicia sat up, looking innocent.

“And what about you?” I continued. “How much of your responsibility, as a Manager, have you abandoned, thinking a bonus will be an effective substitute?”

Do Less Than Your Best

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“Your bonus system creates mistrust?” I repeated.

“It’s weird. You think if you give someone a bonus, that it will make them work harder. Like they weren’t going to work hard in the first place. Do you remember that contract that Joe has with his crew. When he explained, it almost sounded silly.

My contract is simple, my team comes to work every day and does their best.

“But if I pay a bonus, it destroys that. If I pay a bonus, it’s like I am saying, ‘Come to work every day and do less than your best. And if you do your best, I will give you a bonus.'”

Perverse Incentives

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“And what else?” I asked.

“This is a tough one,” she started. “Our bonus system. I think our bonus system is causing some of the problems.”

“How so?”

“Well, we wanted to make sure we didn’t get into lawsuits based on construction defects, so we pay a bonus to our engineering manager when we have zero claims. It sounds noble, but that sets up someone to over-work against our operations manager, who is just trying to get the job done.

“To make matters worse, we diligently work the project schedules to avoid delay claims. Delay claims can do more than suck the profit out of a job. So we pay a bonus to our operations manager when we have zero delay claims.

“So, now I have two people on the same team who are working against each other.”

“What else?”

Alicia began with a blank stare, then a hint of something in her mind. “I think,” she replied, “the worst part about our bonus system is that it creates mistrust.”

A Manager’s Fear

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The room emptied out, but Paula stopped. “I am curious,” she said. “What changed? I thought we were in for a big fight?”

“You know, in the beginning,” Alicia replied. “I was afraid that things would get out of control and create more of a problem. But, as the meeting continued, I finally realized that the very things that could blow this team apart were the same things that could weld it together.”

Alicia grinned.  “I realized that I have to stop coddling people. This team doesn’t need coddling, they need leadership. And part of that leadership is that I am accountable for the results of the team.

“I am the one in position to know all of the changing circumstances reported by each team member. My authority is to select and deselect team members, make and change task assignments. Most importantly, I am the one accountable for those decisions.”

Who is Accountable for the Decision?

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Alicia smiled. “Who, on this team should make the critical decisions about the Phoenix Project? Critical decisions based on the excellent engineering recommendations from Russ’ department, and based on the realities of production confronted by Corey and his team?”

The room was quiet.

“I thought I was using concensus to get buy-in,” she said. “But, you were already bought in. You come to this meeting with your fresh ideas and vigorously debate those ideas. There is a ton of commitment around this table. What you need is a decision.”

Paula raised her hand. “You know, this meeting has always been called the Project team meeting. Maybe it should be called the Division Manager’s Meeting?”

Alicia paused to collect her breath. “You are right.  Each of you is accountable to attend this meeting and give your best advice, but I am accountable to my manager for the decision.  Tomorrow morning, we will convene the Division Manager’s Meeting. We have a very important decision to make about the Phoenix Project. The meeting will last for 60 minutes, during which time I will listen to presentations, arguments and discussion about this decision. At the end of the meeting, I will make a decision as to the direction. Based on my decision, it will be up to each of you to carry on, giving it your best.

“As conditions change, we will meet each week to discuss new critical issues. I expect each of you to handle the details. We will only talk about difficult decisions.

“Thank you all for your attention and participation in this meeting. Let’s get back to work.”

Conflicting Priorities

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All eyes settled on Alicia. “My role is to put the team together,” she started, “assign the leadership, make sure there is consensus and that the project stays on track. Until today, this has been the Project Team Meeting.”

Alicia stopped. “I attend these meetings as part of this team, because there are often conflicting priorities based on the specific agendas each of you have. At the end of the day, I am accountable for the Phoenix Project, resolving the priority conflicts based on the latest data each of you brings to the meeting.”

Again, she stopped and looked around the room. “As the Division Manager, I abdicated my responsibility, as a manager, to a watered down decision-making protocol called consensus, in an effort to appease everyone and get everyone to play nice?”

There was shifting in the chairs as this meeting was getting closer to the truth.