Great teams consistently reach 8/10. But they also encourage people to express their talents so that the team reaches 10/10.
Imagine you are a leader and want to build such a team. One concern that you have, however, is that people sometimes neglect the basics on their route to self-expression. Let's explore three steps for getting the right combination in your team.
1) You can encourage people to do certain things consistently.
Start by gathering people together. Explain how superb teams get the right balance between consistency and creativity. Try to give some real life examples that show how teams have followed this formula. Invite people to also come up with examples of teams that have got the right balance.
You can then ask them to tackle the exercise on this theme. People are to start by brainstorming ideas on the things that everybody must do in a consistent way. They can then agree on the key principles.
This exercise can be used with all kinds of teams. During the 1980s, for example, I used it with teams of talented young footballers. Believing they were super stars, they often did their own thing. But success called for them combining their talents as a team. When using this exercise with one team, they agreed that everybody should:
“Arrive on time for training; keep themselves fit; listen to the coach; follow the team game-plan; stick to their agreed roles during matches; always give 100%; accept the referee’s decisions without dissent; encourage each other in adversity; always take responsibility, do not blame other people.”
So invite people to brainstorm and then agree on the following things that everybody must do in a consistent way.
2) You can encourage people to use their creativity.
Move onto the second part. Ask people to brainstorm and agree on when it important to encourage individuals to use their creativity.
After some discussion, the football team agreed that players should use their imagination when they were:
“Attacking in the final third of the field; making defence-splitting passes; rescuing critical situations; taking quick free kicks; making decisions about things not covered in the game plan.”
So invite people to agree on the following areas.
3) You can encourage people to get the right balance between consistency and creativity.
Great teams always do the basics, even after being knocked off-course. They then add the brilliance when it matters. Bearing this in mind, ask your team to tackle the final part of the exercise.
First, invite people to clarify how they can continue to balance consistency and creativity in their daily work.
Second, if appropriate invite them to clarify how they can behave superbly during potential crises.
Get them to test their conclusions by brainstorming potential problems. Exploring each event in turn, ask people: a) To clarify how they can go back to basics during the difficulty; b) To clarify how they can add that touch of magic to solve the crisis successfully.
Great teams are frequently self-managing. This calls for educating them to get the right balance between consistency and creativity. They will then be able to produce great performances when it matters.
Posted on Saturday, November 12th, 2011 at 4:50 pm in Super teams, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
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