Producing Power in the Workplace

I get it.   I know why some people and some teams choose to work autonomously.   They don't want "someone in their stuff."    They want to be able to create a singular vision.     They don't want the perceived baggage that comes with a group consensus and they desire exclusive credit for their singular creation.

The visual I attach to these desires is of one gear, spinning by itself.    It may be spinning just fine - in fact, it may be going at an accelerated pace.     The gear itself is probably pretty pristine and nice to look at it because it hasn't had that messy interaction with any  other gears.  And there's the rub (or lack thereof);  because it doesn't mesh with any other gears, ultimately. . . it's powerless.

Not only do some individuals choose to work like this - entire organizations operate in such a fashion - but they do not operate at maximum efficiency or capacity because they are not engaged with any other gears.

To create power in the workplace, individuals and teams need to mesh with each other.  Instead of spinning alone, they need to be highly interactive driving a common machine toward a common goal.

Sacrifices that must be made for this type of partnership (less autonomy, having "someone in your business," additional time to attain consensus and lack of getting solo credit) are small compared to the power that is generated with the end result.  When teams and individuals interact with each other, they share each other's business, they give each other credit and ultimately are more efficient because the time it took to reach consensus protects the entire enterprise from time-consuming  mis-steps and produces a more satisfactory product.

Communication, willingness to compromise, collaboration are all elements that allow individuals and teams to work well together and create something better than just one individual can create on their own.  A gear spinning alone produces merely a faint breeze. . .gears, and teams, that mesh with others produce power.

Like it?    Share it!

Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions,  Confident Leaders" available on Amazon Kindle for e-readers, PC's, tablets and Apple products.   If you are a member of Amazon prime, "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is now part of the lending library.