 “You know, something big shifted for me after that session last month,” said a friend over dinner. She is a manager who has recently gone through four rounds of layoffs and is struggling with the increased workload, conflict on her team and a boss uninterested in the day-to-day challenges. “Things are still tough, but I have a bigger perspective, so I can see and use the freedoms I do have. I’ve altered my approach, which is leading to better interactions with my boss and less pressure to take home. And it all really stemmed from that two-hour session!”
What did we do for two hours that made such a difference?
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Do You Really Want to Know? |
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 Last month, the New York Times featured an article about how critical players in the development of early cellphones recognized the driving hazards – but were so fascinated with their mission that they “never paused to wonder about the risks”. (See Driven to Distraction: Promoting the Car Phone, Despite the Risks).
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Stepping on the Gas and the Brake at the Same Time |
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 Earlier this week, a consultant colleague, Jim, shared his frustration with trying to help a client.
The gist of the story is simple: The client company faced an urgent need to increase sales effectiveness, so he and his client contact (a project leader I’ll call George) co-designed a program using the absolute best practices for accelerating learning on the job, based on both of their expertise and years of experience. They got their leader on board and began developing the program.
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Getting to Team Synergy, Part 2 |
 In the last post on Team Synergy, we explored the fact that teams often waver in deciding whether to invest in real teamwork. We often fail to recognize the ways our work is already interdependent and how we can disrupt each other if we do not actively manage those connections.
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Getting to Team Synergy, Part 1 |
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 There are certain words that are used so often and so vaguely that they can mean almost anything. “Teamwork” is clearly one of those words… and “synergy” is another. Some of you may remember the film In Good Company, where cut-throat tycoon Teddy K. (played by Malcolm McDowell), speaking after a series of arbitrary layoffs, folds his hands together almost like a priest and incants the mystical virtues of synergy.
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