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As you set your goals for 2021, I invite you to consider this story.
Two teams were given the same assignment: to come up with new product to address their customers’ needs.
Team A’s leader briefed his team:
Team B has nothing on us! We’re going to win! Do whatever you have to do to come up with a winning proposal! Now you go and get this done!
Team B’s leader briefed his team:
We will have a brainstorming session this afternoon. Reschedule any commitments you have because I don’t want our creative flow to be disturbed. Between now and then, I want half of you to review the results of our recent customer feedback surveys, and the other half to contact a number of our customers. Ask them what their dream product would like and how it would make them feel to use it.
The committee evaluating the product proposals recommended team B’s proposal and reported the following observations:
Team A’s leader did the entire presentation on his own, while Team B’s leader chipped in from time to time as his members presented;
Team A focused on what they thought customers wanted, while team B focused on what customers said they wanted and how the product would address their needs;
When their team leaders commended them and acknowledged their efforts members of team A looked down, whilst members of team B smiled and high-fived each other.
So what tipped the scale in favour of team B?
It was their approach. They saw this assignment as a way to serve their customers better while team A saw the assignment as a challenge to be won.
How did team B's approach set them apart from Team A's? It came down to their leader, who set the tone by providing guiding principles without explicitly saying so:
Collaboration
Empathy
Creativity
Customer service.
The committee's observations also imply that team B’s leader was committed to these principles and practiced them.
But why does it matter how the two teams approached the assignment? Didn’t they both complete it on time? Isn’t meeting deadlines and getting results what matters at the end of the day?
Well, let me ask you this:
What is the most fulfilling project you have worked on?
What is the most satisfying assignment you have had?
What is the most frustrating project you have been part of?
What is the most demoralising assignment you have been given?
What made them fulfilling, satisfying, frustrating or demoralising?
I can confidently guess that it was how you did the work and this is precisely what team B's leader instilled in his members from the start!
As you set your goals for 2021, make them SMARTH not SMART.
Consider how you’ll achieve them by asking yourself these questions:
What guiding principles/values do I want my team to uphold as they do their work?
How can I support my team to practice these principles?
How can I demonstrate these principles?
Remember that the end doesn’t always justify the means. How we achieve our goals and results matters.
Next year stay focused on results but don’t forget the HOW.
P.S.
What stood out for you in the different approaches by team A and team B?
What values did you pick up from team B that were not apparent with team A?
If you were the team leader given this assignment what approach would you take? Why?
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