It’s simple math.
The work may be messy. The human or team dynamics may be messy. But the team dynamics should never be messier than the work.
We often work with client teams in crisis- they can be struggling with trust, lack cohesion, be at a roadblock or stumbling around the abyss of unclear roles, uncertainty, clunky process and misalignment. This is often born of or exacerbated by work that is labyrinthian, knotty, and in search of its own relevance, but to what in these unknown and unknowable times?
If the work messiness factor is, say, a “6” on the 1-10 Jamison/Bush Messiness Scale, then the team dynamics cannot be any rating higher than that. If they are, the team is making the work worse, not better. Making work better is kinda of the point- the fundamentals, the point of it all. So if your team is more messy than the work, stop action now and change this to avoid organizational waste and the long term impact of compounded frustration.
If the team dynamics are less messy than the work- that’s good. That’s where the possibility of people coming together with a mindset narrowed on improvement can do unpredictable things in unknowable times- good things, new things, unprecedented things. Do the math, and wherever there is messiness, clean it up. Clarify roles, set boundaries and expectations, develop common language and use it, restate goals and outcomes and connect people and work back to the strategic core.
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