Summertime brings back memories of neighborhood softball games, Hide and Seek, “Tag- You’re It”, and many more. I can smell the grass, feel the sun and see that big fly ball coming right at me in center field that I somehow managed to catch in a co-ed softball game; what a moment! Hours flew by before we all had to run home for dinner.
Have you ever had this feeling at work? I am grateful for having this experience in a prior role as part of a start-up aerospace manufacturing team. At first it was a bit of a challenge since we were all new and came from different companies. We struggled with different vocabulary and ways of doing things; it felt like things took twice as long since we all had different ideas about the best way to set up our new facility. Eventually, we agreed on some rules that helped us operate as a team and things started flowing. We agreed to use a consensus decision process (defined as supporting the decision even if we didn’t completely agree). A team member presented the recommended option and we each voted with a thumb up, down or sideways. Sideways = More discussion needed. Up = Go! Down = No. This allowed us to only spend time on decisions that required more discussion. We also created a process called, “In the Goal Posts”. We made the signal of a goal post with our arms like a referee in football to quickly communicate a concern that we were over analyzing the problem (a common challenge in highly technical engineering environments!). If the solution worked (in the goal posts) then it was sufficient. We also agreed on other rules regarding our agreements to listen, respect each other, etc…
It was the most fun, fulfilling and the hardest I ever worked in my corporate career. The results of our team were truly extraordinary. We set up flexible lean manufacturing work cells with self directed teams with lower costs and quality that far exceed the facility we replaced. It was like playing hard with my friends on a long summer day. I went home exhausted and exhilarated and excited to get out there and do it all again the next day. Unfortunately, due to organizational changes outside of our control, the facility was closed and re-consolidated and I never had this environment again in my corporate career of many more years.
Recently, I was thrilled to find a team coaching process that immediately brought back all those great memories of playing hard on a team. It is called Team Advantage (linked). It uses the game structure of coaching a team to an extraordinary goal. The Pyramid Resource Group (DJ and Barry Mitsch) developed this process over 15 years ago and they have seen a lot of success. I am excited to be certified to bring this play into corporate environments all over the world and create amazing results.
Please share your stories of play at work for amazing results in a comment.
photo credit: Walter Paranteau