A team will flow effortlessly when these 3 things do not exist – fear, blame, and conceit.

A lack of fear, blame, and conceit will open the space necessary for great ideas to grow and flow throughout a team.

You cannot police the flow of your team; you can only be alert for when you are being fearful, blame-focused, or self-important.

The power of this threesome is such that if even a single member of a team embraces one of them, the team’s flow, or ability to accomplish, will be diminished.

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Creativity is really problem-solving in disguise. Each one of us has been forced to be creative from time to time. Whether it’s figuring out a different route home because a road is blocked or coming up with another way to process an order at work because the system is down, you can create; you just may not believe it.

Everyone is creative; the difference between a highly creative person and one who says he is not is confidence. 

You may prefer the straight and narrow path of predictability instead of creativity. If so, be prepared to change plans when your system fails because of a power outage, or a strike shuts down your supplier’s plant, or your laptop gets stolen. These are all situations that require creativity on your part. You’re going to have to figure out something.

Learn to flip the switch and create on demand. Get comfortable with thinking on your feet and not spending hours in the conference room with teammates trying to decide where the company logo should go on your coffee mugs.

There is a time and a place for standardization but there is an ever-increasing demand for creating great things (products or services) quickly and affordably.

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Office (or Team) politics usually is a no win situation. You are seemingly trapped into choosing sides; one side’s right and the other is wrong, but each side believes the other is wrong. With all of the bantering back and forth (he’s this and she’s that) it’s a wonder any work gets done…or does it?

What should you do when confronted with office politics? Your job.

Sorry, it’s that simple…about 90% of the time. The reality is, if you have time to discuss office politics on the job, you’re not busy enough. (Don’t confuse office politics with office gossip. That’s another post.)

Office politics will always exist, but that does not mean you have to participate. If you find yourself in a situation where office politics rule, and you’re forced to choose sides, you’re in the wrong company. If you have no chance of breaking free anytime soon, the next post will offer some steps for working in a “political environment.”

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-        Make a decision
-        Create something new
-        Change your job or career
-        Enjoy what you’re doing
-        Sing in the rain
-        Go the extra mile
-        Do something special for someone
-        Put others first
-       Put yourself first
-        Go on an adventure
-        Dream big
-        Ask for help
-        Make a mess
-        Start over
-        Rediscover your partner
-        Clean things up
-        Take time to think about things
-        Offer your opinion
-        Lead
-        Change your life
-        Do more than expected
-        Help without being asked
-        Always do your best
-        Be yourself

What are you waiting for?

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Even the most harmonious team has arguments, problems, and disagreements, but there’s a fine line that should be drawn to keep things from getting personal. 

The issue is the problem, not the person. But too often there’s a transference of energy that occurs during an argument, and it usually gets directed towards a person.

This energy push is usually power-driven or ego-driven.

If you’re strong, you’ll dish it out; if you’re timid, you’ll get bulldozed; but if you’re an engaged (and honest) team member, you’ll just state your position, defend it, and then let it go.

Polite is saying please and thank you, being an engaged team member is being truthful about how you feel and what you think – and not making it personal.

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Sometimes a team member will withhold important information from other members (not maliciously but with the intent of controlling things). This requires other members to pull information out of the person, bit by bit.

There’s a scene in the movie that depicts this kind of behavior. It involves Chico selling Groucho a “hot racing tips” book from his bogus ice cream cart. (“Gettaya Tuttsi Fruitsi Ice Cream,” he beckons.)

Grouch gives in and buys a book only to find out that he must buy yet another book, and another book, in order to get the information he needs.

Team members who control the flow of information slow things down, send signals of mistrust, and generally are playing with the heads of their team mates. Why?

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I used to request that clients “Tear up their New Year’s Resolutions,” and tell me what their intentions were.

It was a small distinction with a major difference in outcomes.

What are your intention?

“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.”
- Herb Kelleher/former CEO of Southwest Airlines

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A team member is your significant other, or the person who cuts your lawn, sells you insurance, paints your house, repairs your car, or teaches your child at school.  Each one of these team relationships is a choice – a choice not only by selection but also by acceptance of that person as a teammate.

But too often these choices are made with the frame of mind that the other person is just the vendor; not the partner.  As a result, a relationship is forged in the traditional customer/supplier mindset.

What do you think might happen if you began treating all of your suppliers like the teammates that they are?

True, you might scare them at first, but odds are that the relationship will change for the better.

Whether you got to choose your teammates or not, start treating them as teammates instead of suppliers.  Doing so will increase the trust, respect, and accountability in every relationship.

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It won’t always be this way.  Team stress is dynamic; it’s both personal and impersonal, so try not to  get pulled into the drama of it. 

Stress is stress.  Recognize it for what it is, an indication of something not right; either real or imagined.  And then look for the source.

“It’s not always going to be this grey.”  – George Harrison/All Things Must Pass

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Film director M. Night Shyamalan once said that, “…the only thing we have to offer (to the world) is our point of view.” It’s more than that, though.

In the working world, point of view can mean your skills and knowledge, your perspective, your intuition, and your unique (and helpful) way of doing things.   

Your point of view is your world lens and the tools (skils, creativity, knowledge, etc.) you bring to the table of your team.

- Become more aware of your talents and how they benefit you and your team.

- Become more aware of your teammate’s talents and how they benefit you and your team. 

- Practice openly recognizing your teammates for their contributions.

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