It seems like every day I hear an interview, read an article or have a conversation that somehow (directly or indirectly) highlights the differences between generations, cultures and/or the economic status of those living and working in today’s society. I’ve heard Millenials (those from Generation Y) who find nothing strange about requesting flexible schedules to take yoga classes in the middle of the day. I know Baby Boomers who never accessed or understand the corporate usefulness of Twitter or Vine. And it’s not unusual for half the workforce of a company to be unaware of the dates (or even time of year) when many celebrate Rosh Hashanah or Mahavir Jayanti.
Given the diverse complexity of our workforce, the thought of creating cohesive, high performance work teams can be daunting. However, there has never been a more important time to tap into those differences than now. Making high performance team cohesiveness a priority will “add value” back to any organization. It can create better products or services, establish a new, modern approach to day-to-day work flow, or ignite enthusiasm and commitment to a company culture.
In addition, it creates a significant competitive and cultural advantage. Requiring members of a team (large and/or small) to participate in establishing goals, priorities, values and/or ideas will benefit any organization. Research studies show that team diversity is a good thing – more importantly, it contributes to a company’s culture, growth and recognition. For example, a study discussed on NPR showed that research papers written by multicultural teams are cited more often in other research than those written by homogenous teams. Why? Diverse teams bring different perspectives, skills and talents to the table.
The best leaders appreciate that team cohesiveness is critical, and that diverse teams are powerful. In a recent interview on NPR, Walter Isaacson, who wrote “The Innovators – How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution,” claimed Steve Jobs once said that his greatest accomplishment was the team of people he formed at Apple. Without a great, involved, diverse team, your products cannot be exemplary. Walter’s book is a narrative of “who the inventors were” of the digital age, how they collaborated and why their ability to work as a team made them even more creative. It’s not a story about a “lone inventor,” but one about collaborative creativity! I was so impressed with the discussion that I plan to purchase the book for many on my Christmas list!
When I decided to write about diverse team cohesiveness, my reading led me to a story – a metaphor that I want to pass along to you about teamwork from Steve Jobs. Generally speaking, he tells a story of a widowed man he become friends with over 30 years ago. This man showed Jobs how a rock tumbler could transform old dusty rocks into beautiful polished stones simply by rubbing against each other (friction) and making a lot of noise. Since my son also had a rock tumbler – I can verify it’s decimal of chaotic friction is great – and as I used it, I saw that the outcome was miraculous.
Teams, Jobs states, are like these stones. Individually, they are fairly normal, ordinary and even a bit rough. But through the process of teamwork, they transform to a very different state.
Jobs further states that teams consisting of talented people who are passionate and work hard towards something often times bump up against each other, argue, fight and make noise. By working together, they polish one another and their ideas and the process create beautiful stones.
I love this metaphor!
As you reflect on this metaphor ask yourself a few questions: How does the senior management of your organization lead their departments and/or teams? How do you embrace diversity in your teams and organizational culture? Does your corporate culture encourage and value individual contributions from all levels of a team? Do you recognize different opinions? Do you allow team members to challenge your ideas? Do you encourage healthy conflict within your team? Does your team appreciate the differences each member brings to the group? What defines “differences?” How can your organization empower and support differences of opinions, work schedules, priorities, goals and ideas of each employee?
In a webinar I participated in last week, Hile Rultedge of OKA (Otto Kroeger Associates) discussed how individual emotional intelligence can be explored through team analysis using the EQi2.0 Group Report. While the webinar focused on the functional use of the group instrument, it never ventured far from the reality that team growth and development begins with individual assessments and personal development. It’s the leadership of an organization that establishes and defines expectations for effective high performance teams.
As you begin to set goals for departments and teams for 2015, recognize that growth within every team has to begin with the individual. This means individual leaders should challenge themselves to grow personally, recognize and embrace team diversity and its advantages, and allow each team to flourish through trust, creative bantering and unified goal setting.
Making it a priority to build cohesive, high performance teams will produce fascinating results and drive organizational success.
