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lthough the last of Kathryn’s Napa Valley off-sites had a dif- ferent atmosphere from the others, it began with a famil- iar speech. “We have a more experienced set of executives than any of our competitors. We have more cash than they do. Thanks to Martin and his team, we have better core technology. And we have a more connected board of di- rectors. Yet in spite of all that, we are behind two of our competitors in terms of both revenue and customer growth.And I think we all know why that is.”
Nick raised his hand. “Kathryn, I’d like you to stop giv- ing that speech.”
A month earlier, everyone in the room would have been shocked by such a blunt statement. But no one seemed to be alarmed at all.
“Why is that?” Kathryn asked.
Nick frowned, trying to think of the right words. “I guess it seemed more appropriate a few weeks ago when we were a lot more . . .” Nick didn’t need to finish the sentence.
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Kathryn explained as nicely as she could. “I’ll stop mak- ing this speech when it’s no longer true. We are still behind two of our competitors. And we are still not where we need to be as a team.”
Kathryn continued. “But that’s not to say that we aren’t on the right track. In fact, the first thing we’re going to do to- day is take a step back and assess where we are as a team.”
Kathryn went to the white board and drew the triangle again, filling in the five dysfunctions.
Then she asked, “How are we doing?”
The team considered the question as they re-examined the model.
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Finally, Jeff spoke first. “We certainly trust each other more than we did a month ago.” Heads around the room nodded, and Jeff completed the thought. “Although I think that it’s still too early to say that there isn’t more work to be done.” Heads continued to nod.
Jan added. “And we’re doing better with conflict, al- though I can’t say I’m used to it yet.”
Kathryn assured her, “I don’t think anyone ever gets completely used to conflict. If it’s not a little uncomfortable, then it’s not real. The key is to keep doing it anyway.”
Jan accepted the explanation.
Nick jumped in. “As far as commitment is concerned, we have definitely started getting better buy-in around ob- jectives and deliverables. That’s not a problem. But the next one, accountability, worries me the most.”
“Why?” asked Jeff.
“Because I’m not sure that we’re going to be willing to get in each other’s faces when someone doesn’t deliver, or if someone starts acting against the good of the team.”
“I’mcertainly going to get in their face.”
To everyone’s surprise, it was Martin who made the comment. He explained. “I don’t think I could handle going back to the way things were before. And so if it comes down to a little interpersonal discomfort versus politics, I’m opting for the discomfort.”
Nick smiled at his quirky colleague and finished the model. “Well, I don’t think we’re going to have a results
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problem. None of us will come out of this smelling rosy if we can’t make this company work.”
Kathryn had never been so glad to see a room full of people nod their heads in agreement. But she decided that she should let some of the air out of the team’s balloon.
“Listen, I agree with most of what you’ve said about the team. You’re moving in the right direction. But I want to assure you that there will be many days during the next few months when you will wonder if you’ve made any progress at all. It’s going to take more than a few weeks of behavioral change before we see a tangible impact on the bottom line.”
The team seemed to be agreeing with her too easily.
She decided she needed to rattle them one more time. “I’m telling you this because we are not out of the woods yet.
I’ve seen plenty of groups slide backward that were a lot further along than we are. This is about having the disci- pline and persistence to keep doing what we’re doing.”
As bad as Kathryn felt about raining on the team’s pa- rade, she was relieved to have prepared them for the bad weather every team faces on the way to shedding their dys- functions. And for the next two days, the team experienced that weather. At times, working together in a spirit of co- operation, at other times seemingly at each other’s throats, the group wrestled with business issues and worked each one through to resolution. Ironically, they rarely discussed the notion of teamwork directly, which Kathryn interpreted as a sign that they were making progress. Two observations
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that Kathryn made during breaks and meals told her she was right.
First, the team seemed to stay together, choosing not to go off on their own as they had at previous off-sites. Sec- ond, they were noisier than they had ever been, and one of the most prevalent sounds that could be heard among them was laughter. By the end of the session, though they were clearly exhausted, everyone seemed eager to sched- ule follow-up meetings with one another when they re- turned to the office.
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