Navigating Uncertainty as a Team
Have you ever been on a team that received a curve ball halfway through a project? How about finding out your customers want something other than what you’re making? Maybe your budget got cut in half? Or how about your boss wants to see something in half the time you’d planned?
Responding to changing demands is not only difficult, it’s unavoidable. To do things right, and do the right things, we need to curate teams capable of navigating turbulent waters. Why is this important and what are some practical best steps for smooth sailing?
Don’t get stuck in the rowboat
We know the seemingly perennial message, “business is moving faster than ever.” Well, it’s true, and that’s causing us to be more reactionary. There is no strategy without competition and the tides of market forces are swelling. [1]
Humans like routines. We like habits. It reduces decision making and cognitive dissonance, and that saves our brain a lot of energy, something we’ve evolved to do for very good reasons (so we could use our brain power for finding food and avoiding danger). [2] But not all habits are good.
When teams fall into bad habits, we get stuck on rowboats.
“If only we could get everyone rowing in the same direction.” (tempting)
Picture your team going through its daily motions, charging ahead on a course determined many miles or months ago. It’s tempting for us to feel good about all the work we’re doing, regardless of whether or not it’s moving us in the right direction.
Confusing productivity for progress is enticing. Sometimes we’re busy all day doing things that make us feel productive. When we fall into routines of checking email, creating reports, and holding meetings, we can fail to move the needle. Why? Because we’re stuck on the rowboat and it’s comfortable. We go on autopilot. We’ve become efficient, but not effective. We do things right, but not the right things. We should ask ourselves, are we still going in the right direction?
Are we still going in the right direction?
Conversely, sailing demands a different mindset. It requires adapting to the current conditions with several team members fulfilling various roles.
“Batten down the hatchet!”
“Swab the deck!”
“Starboard!”
“Watch the boom!” [new guy gets hit by boom]
The point is, being on a sailboat fosters an entirely different mindset than rowing and it’s more akin to how we should think about our teams’ culture. When we create a Sailing Culture, we’re better able to navigate the complex challenges facing teams and organizations today and chart our path forward.
How you can create a Sailing Culture
If you’re on-board with this idea, here are some best practices from people wiser than me on curating a team dynamic and culture that can navigate changing tides and harness shifting winds. To have a mighty crew, you’ll need to build camaraderie, update your maps, and calibrate your compass.
1. Build Camaraderie
You already know navigating the seas requires buy-in, co-operation, and some fun, but it’s proving to be more important than we thought. [3] This camaraderie is team culture; the ways in which teams of people interact on a daily basis. Here’s how the best crews build team culture in nuanced ways.
Build Psychological Trust. Multiple independent research projects have concluded that the most important factor influencing a team’s ability to perform well together is the underlying psychological safety people feel in being part of that group. [3,4,5,7] In part, this means never shaming someone in front of others, never casting blame or harsh criticism, and always giving thanks for all the small efforts people put in.
Genuinely Listen. To build camaraderie, establish trust. To establish trust, people need to be and feel heard. [3, 7] This means listening to understand, not to respond. If you’re not practicing active listening, your conversations and interpersonal relationships will not engender the trust needed for rapid responses to quickly shifting winds. To improve active listening, practice mindfulness, introspection, and meditation.
Everyone Speaks, Briefly. We already knew taking turns was important; turns out it still is. The best teams in the workplace have everyone contributing. However, to do this requires something we’re less aware of: the rate of “idea flow.” Sharing ideas quickly allows for each person to have a chance to speak. [1,3,4].
Ask Each Person for Their Opinion. What do you think? is a powerful and often under-utilized question. It opens doors, builds buy-in, and fosters a culture of contribution and equality [5]. Is it just the older adults speaking? How about just white men? Or just men? Asking everyone to share their thoughts relating to a project at some point in every meeting boosts team energy and allows subtle details and priorities to surface. An easy way to encourage sharing diverse perspectives is to distribute index cards or post-its and have everyone write down their thoughts, put those into a hat, then randomly pull the cards for anyone to address.
Heed the Warning. Sometimes it’s not the captain who sees the iceberg, but the crew. Building camaraderie gives people the courage to speak up and listening might just save you from your next unwanted impact. When it comes to moving quickly, we need strong lines of communication throughout the ship, built on good relationships.
2. Update Your Maps
Maps align us to the reality of our market or industry. Knowing what our customers want and where our competitors are helps shape and inform the crew on what we’re doing and why.
Whether it’s customer research in the form of a shared visible artifact (persona posters on the wall or videos of a day in the life) or a competitor matrix plotting out where you fit on a spectrum of value in the customers’ eyes, these references keep us grounded in what can otherwise feel like open uncharted waters. These maps include Competitive Landscape Diagrams, Customer Journey Maps, Empathy Maps, and Service Blueprints. The biggest challenge is in updating and referencing them; that’s why they need to be ever-present in your work space.
3. Calibrate Your Compass
Knowing where to go when your ships get redirected can be challenging, especially so when your guiding goals and principles are unclear. Calibrate your compass by finding your true north.
What do you know to be fundamentally true to your project and the value your customers hold? Having not only a working document, but a high hanging flag stating your teams design principles or mission statement will help your crew course correct in times of uncertainty. These heuristics (short-cuts in decision making) give guidance to the whole team when they need to choose where to go next. [3]
Recap
1. Think of teaming as a crew on a sailboat navigating difficult waters.
2. To create a Sailing Culture: build camaraderie, update your maps, and calibrate your compass.
Cheers mate. Welcome aboard. We’re happy to have you :)
This article was inspired by a conversation with IBM Distinguished Designer Sarah B. Brooks. Thank you.
References
1. Humans are Underrated. Geoff Colvin, 2015
2. Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Khaneman, 2011
3. The Culture Code. Daniel Coyle, 2018
4. Project Aristotle. Google, 2016
5. Social Physics. Sandy Pentland, 2014
6. Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. Sam Kaner, 2014
7. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni, 2002
