Keeping your eyes, your mind, your heart and your
intellect open can lead to wonderful experiences, as also insight. This is
exactly what happened today, as I watched a flock of birds, and their
coordination. My mind went to a few days ago when I chanced upon a line of
ants, as well as the Bees nest which I also observed quite closely. It struck
me that these beings, incapable of complex thought, can achieve tasks far in
excess of their apparent capabilities, and with stunning coordination between
the various members of their community. I also noted with chagrin that Mankind, despite being advanced in
comparison, has proven itself wholly incapable of pulling off similar
coordination in its efforts.
BEES, BIRDS & ANTS
Close observation of Bees and Birds, as well as Ants
has lead me to really admire their capabilities of team work, coordinated
effort, and task-centricity. What I wouldn’t give for a similar level of task
focus in my life, be it personal or professional. Sadly, I am forced to
conclude that this is currently beyond our ability, despite our obviously
higher position on the developmental scale. We can look at our achievements {of
Mankind}, and take pride; but stop a moment, and think again. Given our advanced capabilities, as well as
our impact on the environment, I respectfully submit that we are
under-achievers.
WHY IS THIS SO?
The reason for this is quite simple : Humans have
the ability to think, and in addition have desires, wants. Given the diversity
of Humanity, there is a wide disparity between thought processes of divergent
individuals. Adding to this is the difference in status, class, economic
profile of the people, and you have a situation wherein each individual has his
or her own set of wants, which diverge widely from other people. This is the
backdrop which one needs to keep in mind. Due
to this diversity of thought & wants, a situation is created wherein a
group of people will like as not have widely diverging priorities. Human ego,
status etc further complicates this by ensuring each person has an opinion; the
net result is, human activity seems disorganized in comparison!
THE PARADOX…
Paradoxically, it is these very abilities that
ensure that the Human species has evolved so fast and so well; wants, desires,
thoughts, ego etc – these have fueled Human Endeavour like nothing has, and no other aspect has a similar capability
to unlock potential. The very aspects that ensure that all Human Activity is by definition less
organized and seemingly chaotic is
what makes us, us – so to speak. In other words, our abilites are a two-edged
sword…. Used well, they work wonders. Else…
THE LEARNING
In most modern organizations, Teamwork, getting
buy-in of the entire team is perhaps one of most risk-prone steps, and has led
to incalculable business losses. In fact, in most human organized activity, it
is the ability to pull the entire organization along in one direction that is
the most vital aspect. One would think that sentient beings like us would have
no problem in doing so; yet, time after time, this has proven to be the
waterloo of many a concerted organized effort. This is the last frontier of
Human Endeavour – unlearning those precise abilities that got us here in the
first place.
As we can see in the Ants, the Bees or the Birds
examples above, the entire team combines, each doing their own roles to
near-perfection – to achieve things that we still wonder at, marvel at. The key is the subjugation of individual
desires to the group goal; while ensuring individual needs / wants are also met.
Since lower-scale development has consequently lower apparent needs / wants,
this is doable for them. But for us – with our intellect, egos, desires,
economic problems – is this equally easily achievable? Can we somehow figure
out a win-win situation – as this will obviously directly impact productivity
on a far larger scale than just about anything else?
That is what true team leadership is all about, in a
nutshell. The requirement is aligning Team Goals with individual goals such
that the entire team comes together in a synergistic fashion, multiplying its
effectiveness such that the result is much greater than the sum of its constituent
parts. Put simply, the propensity, the
tendency of team member to highlight, prefer and focus on individual vested
interests needs to be challenged, met head on and solved.
I use the word solve : most managers could interpret
that word as “sack” – well, I didn’t say remove such team members, I said
solve. It means an entire strategy – right from choosing the right person {If you have a retail strategy, keeping a wholesale
specialist is not the answer, for example!}; motivating this person; clarity
in KRAs – which should be fully aligned with overall objectives; lack of hidden
KRAs {oh, yes – there are hidden KRAs, situations when the expected result is
not the one that is written in the strategy. Happens, all too often}.
This extends to having proper milestones & benchmarks;
measurement; checks, balances and feedback; and
most vital – employee & team trust, without which vested agenda are
certain to rise. It includes proper, transparent Rewards and Recognition
programme; communication with the team – even of hiccups; as well as ruthless
culling of problematic individuals, people who insist on driving agenda
detrimental to the stated strategy for personal gain. Not one of the above can
happen successfully without ethical treatment of, transparency with employees,
and winning their trust. That is the totality, the essence of true landmark
leadership – that is the goal every Corporate Manager must strive for!
helpful article
ReplyDelete