Establish Accountability - Increase hardiness - sparring
We live in a time of abundance! We have more choices available to us now than at any other time in human history. When the economy is going well, we assume it will continue that way forever, and completely ignore the lessons of history. The truth is that hunger is a great motivator; when things are going well, we can get lazy and forget that in good times we should still be training ourselves and our teams for more challenging times. I have often heard it said by colleagues and mentors that they learned more in times of scarcity than in times of plenty. And that when they were forced to use their initiatives, they were far more satisfied with themselves, their jobs and their surroundings. Therefore, it is your job to ensure that you encourage your team to debate with each other, challenge each other and not just go with the path of least resistance. Remember, you have customers now, and they will notice. If you can resist the temptation to go with the flow when things are going well, you will be much better prepared to handle a crisis. Does your staff currently think critically about the potential placed in front of them? Or do they simply accept what others are proposing as good enough? Do they think before they speak? From an early age I was taught by both friends and family not to say anything overly dumb, that I should think before I speak (something I struggle with to this day). Once, while grabbing a quick drink before a football match, I saw an early day game being shown on television. The ball went out of play, and my Uncle shouted loudly “Celtic ball!” - the trouble being that we were en route to see the Celtics play, and the televised game was between two other teams. In an instant, a patron of the bar piped up, “I am not sure what that guy is drinking, but I will have two of whatever has him seeing the Celtics on that television.” My uncle was ribbed in good humor for the rest of the day, and took it in good fun, because he knew that it would not be long before someone else said something dumber. The family had set up jovial ways to spar with each other, to ensure that their members could stand up for themselves in the wider world.
Think back to the last time your team invested time and effort, iterating through counter-arguments to make sure the optimal solution had been decided upon. I am not talking about analysis paralysis, but more playing devil’s advocate on at least one of the projects you are working on. Forcing your colleagues to defend their points to you, be able to debate passionately, without getting personal. This may involve hurt feelings the first couple of times around, but it helps ensure that conflict avoidance does not take hold, establishes forums for open debates and requires an active, not passive, involvement from your team. I believe life is a contact sport, that it demands participation and not merely on-looking from the sidelines. Do you agree or disagree? If you agree, does your team know this? If you disagree, let me know. Let’s have the debate!
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