Category Archives: Teamwork

Posts on teamwork

It is a Long Season

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baseballislifeBaseball is back.  As a lifelong fan of baseball this is a time of renewal each year and expectation for a good season for my team and for baseball in general.  A year ago I wrote about this renewal (read here) and this year I have the urge to write again about baseball. 

Baseball, unlike other sports, has a very long season – 162 regular season games ranging from April to October.   Every team has ups and downs, last inning heroics and gut-wrenching loses.   Indeed the best teams will have more of the highs and victories, but even the best team will suffer, have bottom-out moments, and need to respond the next day. 

Baseball, with this long and challenging season, serves as a metaphor of life itself. 

One of these lessons baseball teaches us as leaders, is to remember the big picture.  Do not let today’s loss lead to tomorrow’s loss.  If today was a bad day (lost the game), let us work harder to win tomorrow.   The victor is the leader and the team that makes it through the season knowing that every hard game, every tough loss, is just a part of the whole.

There is a great baseball quote attributed to Tommy Lasorda.

“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”

Yes, back in the “real world” we strive for daily success – a victory each day is important.  Yet, this mindset is not reasonable.  There will be days where nothing works, a lost day indeed.  There are also days where everything flows, a victory with little effort.

As leaders it is our job to take that middle third of days and do what we can to turn them into victories.  Yes talent and ability are important, but a good leader and team learns from mistakes and get the best out of each person.  Contributes come from many sources and the little things indeed add up.  Go deep and win the season. 

Baseball is back, a grand teacher indeed.

Thursday Thought – Laugh, Think and Cry

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Note: Each Thursday I will post a little something to inspire us to finish the week strong. These Thursday Thoughts will be a quote, piece of music, artwork, or inspirational video.  Congratulations, you made it over the hump and let’s finish the week together.

The college basketball championship tournament is well under way here in the United States.  Today we are down to the so-called “Sweet 16″ ever closer to a champion, for both men and women in a couple of weeks.

jim-valvano-netSport fans are typically keen on history.  They remember the great moments for their favorite teams and great sport moments in general.  In 1983 North Carolina State won the College Championship for men’s basketball.  They upset several top teams to dramatically win the championship in last second style.

Their victory may be the biggest upset in college basketball history.

A team above all. A belief they can accomplish anything.  And a coach who inspired the absolute best from his players.

That coach, Jim Valvano, died of cancer 10 years later.   Just weeks before his death he gave a wonderful speech that celebrated life to its fullest.  As we sit here 30 years later from that improbable victory for Jim and his team, let’s remember Jim’s words.

Each day do the following: Laugh, Think, and Cry.  That is a full day, a heck of a day.

Jim is also famous for how he ended his speech with simple, powerful words:

Don’t give up.  Don’t ever give up.

I invite you to watch a few minutes in memory of this terrific coach and leader, Jim Valvano.

Thursday Thought – Who We Are is Why We Win

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Note: Each Thursday I will post a little something to inspire us to finish the week strong. These Thursday Thoughts will be a quote, piece of music, artwork, or inspirational video.  Congratulations, you made it over the hump and let’s finish the week together.

It has been awhile.  Time for some more rowing.  My competitive rowing days helped define me and I am a better leader due to my rowing … the focus, teamwork, joy, and even pain. 

And of course, the occasional swing, when it all came together. 

Here is a video produced by the University of Washington men’s crew who won the national title in 2012.  They have a long and successful history and are the chief rivals of my school, UC Berkeley.  Competition aside, it is all about the crew and rowing as fast as possible.  I have to give it up to them, Husky Crew is an example of WeMoveTogether.

Starbucks Leadership Lab

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starbucks-logoThis morning while drinking my Starbucks coffee (supplied at work) in my cool Starbucks mug (supplied by me), I read a great article at Fast Company magazine about the leadership practices at Starbucks. 

Late last year Starbucks held a conference in Houston for nearly 10,000 store managers and 5,000 live coffee plants (more on the plants later).  From what I read this is an annual conference and one that is quite different from other companies. 

Here is a link to the article and the video that shows the conference in action (click here).  Starbucks works hard to send their message out through its employees or what they call, partners.  This conference is set up to energize and educate the store managers so they are ready to head back to their little corner of the Starbucks world and lead their store, sell coffee and so much more. 

Yes, Starbucks is a business in search of profits, yet one has to admire their approach.  Their mission statement sets the right tone:

 To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

While struggling back in 2008 with sales and morale dropping, Starbucks still held a similar leadership conference including the large price tag.  They now say that conference was the beginning to the improved results at Starbucks.  A strong tenet of leadership is to know when it is time to galvanize the troops or as Starbucks calls the employees (oops, partners), Brand Evangelists. (note: just a thought, but maybe this is underway at Yahoo)

One partner at a time inspiring one customer at a time.  Hey from my corner of the world, it is working.  I do feel better when hanging out at a Starbucks.  From the staff to the community centered environment and of course, the coffee, it works.

Here is a link to a more in-depth article (click here) from Fast Company associated with the Leadership Lab conference.  I do admit, I wish I was there.  As an outsider one can learn much from this approach to leadership and the set of believes lived at Starbucks. 

Back to those 5,000 coffee plants attending the conference.  Do watch the attached video to get the full effect, but here is the question for all of us … in how many companies does the leadership team in total understand the full process?  In other words the plants helped educate the Starbucks leaders to understand the full process, from bean to cup.

Does that exist in your organization?  Do all your leaders across a variety of departments, truly understand the process, from bean to cup? 

Starbucks gets the WeMoveTogether Award (hey, just made that up) for the week.

Here is a short video of the conference in action.  If interested though, do check out the attached links for more information.

Work From Work

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yahoo-logoEveryone is talking, and writing, about the Yahoo announcement yesterday.  The head of Human Resources at Yahoo sent an email to all staff essentially eliminating work from home programs.  In other words, for your job, show up in an office … and have a nice day.

Yes, a big and juicy topic for a blog on leadership and organizational effectiveness.  Where does one start?  Of course, do I agree with Yahoo or not. 

What do you expect me to say?   Do you assume I am against this decision along with the majority of articles and other blog posts?  

Well … while I am surprised by the decision by Yahoo, I am supportive and say good for them.   One immediate reaction though is the message should have come from the new CEO, Marissa Mayer directly instead of the head of HR.   She is changing Yahoo and this is one big decision she must own. 

I reproduced the staff email below.  You got to love the internet.  Employees could not wait to share this with the world.  (source: All Things D).

Yahoos,

Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of great benefits and tools to make us more productive, efficient and fun. With the introduction of initiatives like FYI, Goals and PB&J, we want everyone to participate in our culture and contribute to the positive momentum. From Sunnyvale to Santa Monica, Bangalore to Beijing — I think we can all feel the energy and buzz in our offices.

To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.

Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.

Thanks to all of you, we’ve already made remarkable progress as a company — and the best is yet to come.

Jackie

In my support of this directive, it does help that I am not a Yahoo employee.  I can imagine that if I was working from home regularly and then told to get into the office, that would cloud my thinking on the bigger topic.

Nor am I against work from home programs.  My own staff has this available and most work from home a couple of days a week.  We have several staff members working full-time from home.  It works for us.  That is one of my points – for me yes, for Yahoo, maybe not.  It is too easy to stand outside their organization and throw rocks.  I respect them to make their own decision, based on information, observation, and vision that we, as outsiders, are not aware.

As an outsider and a social scientist of sorts, I welcome the laboratory that Yahoo set up here.  I have talked about Anthropologists in the workplace … here is a great example of why.  This is action science where an organization (Yahoo) has set up a specific set of expectations.  They will be wise to monitor it closely and stay open to the further learning.  This decision by Yahoo is not the problem.  The next decision by Yahoo is the key.  They created the laboratory.  Let’s put on our lab coats and sharpen our pencils as we observe this play out. 

Yet let me go deeper why I support this move by Yahoo.  It gets to the core of my website and writing … WeMoveTogether.  As I read the message as presented to the Yahoo staff, I see the desire to bring the staff together and create the new Yahoo.  To do this well people need to gather. 

A gathering is a challenge when people are not present; communication goes beyond voice and words.  Technology can do only so much.

Time for work.  Time for personal.  Good timing that this hit the news right after my last post titled, A Culture of Availability.  Our work lives and personal lives are blending together, especially for those of us working for larger companies. 

It is not inevitable that our work and personal time will further blend.  This culture of availability needs a significant emotional event.  Well we just got one thanks to Yahoo.  I and all of us will be watching the next steps closely.

My Desk Was My Fortress

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I remember back in elementary school the day we rearranged our desks to face each other in groups or pods.  Each pod had four or six desks facing each other.

elementary_classroom2I was living through the beginning of the new “group work” in schools.  We see it everywhere these days.  Children are set to work in teams even for apparent solo activities such as math or writing.  Many learning activities are group related.  No matter if many of the kids are quiet and focus their energy inward.  Learning is now more social.

Is it the best approach to learning?  Is “pushing our desks together” better in the workplace?

I promised more posts coming from my reading of, Quiet: The Power Of Introverts by Susan Cain.  Once again I do highly recommend the book.  In a chapter titled, “When Collaboration Kills Creativity”, Susan makes several important observations:

A New Groupthink is Growing - This is where we elevate teamwork above all else.  Creativity and intellectual achievement come from a gregarious place.  As Warren Bennis says, “None of us are as smart as all of us”.  This is both true and untrue.  We need to be careful to allow time and space needed by those quiet introverts who very often are the most creativity in the group.

We Organize By Team – It has grown for years and today nearly all corporations organize by teams.  Through team building and constant face-to-face meeting time, there is precious little time to be alone with one’s thoughts.

The Walls are Disappearing – In many organizations the only walls are the ones holding up the building. The open office plan is the rule.  By one estimate 70% of today’s employees work in an open environment.  Once again no space for the individual.

Deliberate Practice gets Lost – It is a quiet solo activity and a key to exceptional achievement.  When we practice deliberately we find the tasks or knowledge that is just out of reach.  We practice to improve, to create and to achieve.   In our groupthink  team-based, office space without walls environment … this level of deliberate practice becomes nearly impossible for so many of us.

Much for us to ponder in our leadership roles.

Alas I return back to my early school days … Even though my teacher pushed the desks together into pods, she did a wonderful thing.  Each of us was given cardboard shaped into three sides.  When placed on the desk, the student shut off the other students.  When the student looked forward, left or right, there was this boundary.  Each student was effectively alone.

What was the purpose of creating such a wall, especially since we just pushed our desks together and more social learning was starting?  My teacher was wise enough to know that each student needed quiet and alone time – to do math problems, to write a story, or to just read.  For introverts this is a necessity.  For extroverts … not a bad idea either.

We decorated and painted our cardboard walls. We loved using them.  There was time for social learning and time to get lost into self when each student pulled out their cardboard dividers.

As I look back now my desk was my fortress.

fort

The Pistol Offense In Motion

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49ers

The Superbowl is a day away.  As a lifelong 49er fan … oh yea, good times indeed.

I feel compelled to write something today concerning the game.  There are so many story angles surrounding the teams and the competition (brother vs. brother).  Alas, my topic becomes obvious with my focus on leadership, teamwork and WeMoveTogether.

Welcome to the Pistol offense of the 49ers.  Don’t worry.  I am not going to break it down in detail (yea, like I could do that).  My focus is that of a general football fan or even those who watch the Superbowl tomorrow for the commercials.

Pistol-Offense-Scheme1Watch how the team sets up each play.  Watch the quarterback, follow his eyes.  Listen as he barks out the play including last second adjustments.  Then watch the true magic once the play begins.

The quarterback stands four yards behind the center (vs. seven yards in the shotgun formation).  He gets the ball and moves left or right.  Where is he going?  Will he pass the ball?  Even he, the quarterback does not know yet.  He is watching the defensive end or a specific linebacker to gauge the reaction to his movement.

Based on how the defense reacts, the quarterback will hand off the ball to a running back, pass or run himself.   His teammates are ready for any decision.

Touchdown!

The play and decision of the quarterback was not determined when they broke the huddle. The team practices the variety of options endless times prior to the game.  Each player, all 11 of them, has a role and needs to perform perfectly on each play.  All players contribute and depending on the quarterback’s decision each may need to be the hero.

Back to work with my vivid imagination … I gather my team together, huddled around me.  I take a knee in the center of the circle and in a patch of dirt I draw up a play.  I explain it and what I expect of each person.  Everyone nods agreement.  We break the huddle understanding that each will have a moment to shine.

“On three let’s go.  1 … 2 … 3 …. GO!”

For those who want more of the Pistol Offense:

Damn, I am a Sales Person

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carsales

I am on this kick lately on introversion vs. extroversion.   Off and on I am working through Susan Cain’s Book, Quiet.  I am an introvert and the topic is very interesting to me as I read more about open and collaborative workplaces and the promise of more networked learning.

Computers, networks and open-work spaces.  Less we forget our humanity.

More to follow on Susan’s book and the impact for our organizations.  Indeed we accomplish more together, yet to leverage the strength of each unique individual lies the promise.  Many of these people are quiet voices with profound contributions ready to be heard.

For today I read an interesting article in the Washington Post called, Why Extroverts Fail, Introverts Flounder and You Probably Succeed.  In the article the author, Daniel Pink, argues that leaders are indeed sales people and share many of the same traits.  Leaders sell.

I invite you to read the article yourself, but in a nutshell the research shows that both extroverts and introverts do not make the best sales people and by extending the argument, not the best leaders.  A  different group called ambiverts do the best. As compared to introverts and extroverts, more people fall into this middle range.

The best way to understand this is to use a 1 to 7 scale with strong introversion being a 1 and strong extroversion being a 7.  The scale is a continuum.  Each of us lies on this scale from 1 to 7.  Ambiverts fill that middle ground say 3, 4, 5.

Ambiverts are not quiet, but they are not loud.  They know how to assert themselves, but they are not pushy.  

Hum, I called myself an introvert earlier and now say that introverts do not make good leaders.   I share this to point out that we need to be careful.  I am a good leader while possessing many introverted traits.  There are great extroverted leaders as well.  One can fall anywhere on this scale and still perform very well as a leader.

While interesting, we have to be careful with conclusions as presented in this article.  We are more than a number on a scale.  I call myself an introvert, but I am more complex than that label.  Introversion is my home, yet I do leave my home and find great joy in working with people each day.    From that place I retreat back to home to re-energize.

Being a leader is not easy.  But I will tell you a secret.  I think you know this one.  Be curious about people.  Get to know them.  Recognize how they are different from you and others on your team.  Find each person’s unique contribution.

Find and welcome the voice.  The voice of each person.

In that we come together and indeed, WeMoveTogether.

The Mona Lisa was not Painted by Committee

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The latest Fast Company magazine is a winner with several interesting articles. One short article immediately caught my eye as it links to some on my other reading lately. The article concerns Fahrenheit 212, an innovation consultancy (that alone is cool enough) and its cofounder, Mark Payne.

Mark speaks to the structure at the company where they divide up the staff into two groups, money and magic. As he says, “we want exceptional creativity and serious financial acumen to coexist.” The office is set up to allow for natural collaboration between both groups and all staff.

Where Mark got me is at the end of his article.

“But I also believe you need gestation time. That’s how creativity works best: You need a stimulus, but also you need to go away as an individual, to think and then come back to the group with a more fully formed idea. After all, the Mona Lisa was not painted by committee.”6a00d8341bf67c53ef017c322e10ba970b-800wi

I am working through the book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. I am also checking up on the latest HR Training forecasts which spell out a world of “Network Learning”.

We need to be careful as we move forward in business and organizations in general. It can all get so loud and hyper connected … are we doing ourselves a disservice? I agree with Mark, the Mona Lisa was not painted by committee.

I will focus more on the related topics concerning these themes in upcoming posts.

Thursday Thought – Something That I Want

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Note: Each Thursday I will post a little something to inspire us to finish the week strong. These Thursday Thoughts will be a quote, piece of music, artwork, or inspirational video.  Congratulations, you made it over the hump and let’s finish the week together.

My daughter pointed this video out to me recently.  She posted it to her new and under development blog, artfullynerdy.  She is on her way down the same rabbit hole many of us crawled into with our blogs.   I tried to warn her …

Anyhow, the video is from Disney Animation Studios and from the look of it includes every employee in this fun video performance.  I want to see this in my organization and yours as well.  This level of fun and whimsy can only strengthen an organization.  There is time to be serious and there is time to build community.

Play Hard, Work Hard.  Enjoy the video.