You And Your Team: Drill Instructor Or The Muppets?

How do you perceive your team?

No really. I mean it.

If you have to create a metaphor about you and your team, what would it be?

Misunderstood Genius? You’ll be better off doing stuff yourself. Ah, in the old days… let me tell you about them ol’ days…

Mother Hen? Making sure the chicks don’t fall, don’t get hurt and stay in line?

Drill Instructor? SHOUTING MAKES THEM WORK HARDER! LAZY &^%$!

Statler & Waldorf (Old Muppets on the balcony)? You just got handed this “team” and you are not really a part of it. You observe and complain from a distance:

WALDORF: They aren’t half bad.
STATLER: Nope, they’re ALL bad!

STATLER: Boo!
WALDORF: Boooo!

Your mental view of your team matters. You may not be aware if it, but it determines your behavior.

Suppose you recognize yourself in the above metaphors. Oof. And you want to have a new one.

Could I offer one, you ask?

Thanks for asking.

Here is one I recommend for people that have the tendency to interrupt the team. We talked about that yesterday.

You’re the needle man! Performing acupuncture.

While a project is running on full speed, no large structural alterations can be made without severe disruption of the system. But small alterations are possible. Think in this respect about acupuncture.

Acupuncture assumes the free flow of energy through the body. If barriers emerge, needles are put into place to remove the blockades. View your project as a group of people that interact along certain paths; power, task and information relationships. Interventions should be viewed as the removal of a blockade along one of those paths.

You hold the needles. So, you still can scare the heck out of everyone