FireFly Facilitation

The recession is in full swing and companies everywhere are feeling the pain. Yours is likely no exception. Shrinking budgets, sweeping layoffs, and a smothering malaise that’s settled over your workforce make it hard to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, even the most optimistic leader finds him or herself wondering, Is there an end to this particular tunnel? Sure there is, but you’re going to have to excavate it yourself—and you’re going to have to light your own way.

Innovation is the only ticket out of this recession.  I’m not just talking about product development.  I’m talking about new services, business processes, means of communication, and methods of collaboration. Innovation is everyone’s job. It’s no longer the purview of R&D or marketing.  And it’s not one big initiative. It’s a lot of small changes and improvements that, together, make a big difference.

Ultimately, companies that can churn out innovative ideas—good, workable, innovative ideas—will be able to adapt to the new realities we face. Those that can’t, won’t.

The heart of innovation, of course, is people working together eagerly, intelligently, and productively. When this synergy happens, ideas pour forth like water from a newly tapped underground spring—or, as I like to say – fireflies showing up en masse at dusk.

I like to use the firefly metaphor—the image of children working together to catch these glowing creatures—to illustrate how successful teams use their individual talents collectively to focus on critical business challenges. (It fact, it’s the topic of my new book The Firefly Effect.)

So how can you deliberately create a more innovative culture—call it “Operation FireFly”— within your team or company?   Stay tuned – in the coming blogs, I will be sharing 9 targeted tips for lighting your way out of the recession.

Imagine being invited to a friend’s house for dinner. You arrive with an appetite, excited to see what’s on the menu. Your host begins the meal by serving light salad of fresh vegetables, and the two of you chat about the day at work.

Having dispatched of the salad, you look forward to the main course. Five minutes pass, and then ten more. Although you’re enjoying conversation, your host still hasn’t served another dish. As your stomach begins to rumble, you wonder when your friend will realize that he/she has forgotten to bring out the next round of food.

Finally, your host clears away the salad bowls, and you prepare for the arrival of a long-overdue entrée. However, something curious happens. Instead of being served a plate of pasta or chicken, you’re treated to a small cupcake—and that’s it!

An Agenda with Substance

Many meeting-goers can relate to our confused, underfed dinner guest. They show up to a conference room expecting to take part in something substantial, but nothing of consequence is ever discussed. When the meeting adjourns, they feel as if their time has been wasted, and they wonder why they were asked to come in the first place.

The world moves faster than ever, and people’s time is precious. Respect your coworkers and clients by making sure your meetings are meaningful. Before asking for a slot on everyone’s schedule, I would suggest creating a pre-meeting checklist.

• Is it absolutely necessary to meet in person, or could information be passed along in an email?
• Do I have clear objectives to accomplish at the meeting?
• Does the meeting’s objective really require a group decision?

Until you can answer, “yes” to all three questions, don’t schedule the meeting. Otherwise, you’ll frustrate your employees by frittering away their time.

Not long ago, bobble-head dolls were the rage. Sports teams handed them out as giveaways at ballgames. People affixed them to the dashboards of their cars or placed them in their rear windows. Even TV characters adorned their desks with bobble-head dolls (see Dwight on The Office).

I’m not sure what purpose bobble-head dolls ever served other than to nod dumbly up and down. However, I do know leaders ought to be alarmed when bobble-headed behavior infects the workplace. If your people unthinkingly nod assent to your decisions then something has gone drastically wrong. Bobble-heads in the boardroom indicate the decay of constructive conflict, and they’re symptomatic of a disease that may threaten the life of your team—artificial harmony.

Who’s at fault for bobble-headed behavior in the workplace?

For leaders, it’s easier to blame the bobble-heads than to accept personal responsibility. “Why don’t they speak up when they disagree instead of complaining about my decisions later? I can’t read their minds! How come they never seem to think for themselves?” It may seem best to decree “Off with their bobble-heads!” and to replace your team with more confident, more vocal team members. Sorry to say it, but doing so would fail to address the root of the problem—you.

Three ways leaders contribute to bobble-headed behavior.

1) They’re impatient

By nature, leaders anticipate the future before others do and act sooner than those around them. While generally an advantage, this foresight can make leaders impatient. Eager to get started, they rush into decisions unilaterally rather than consulting the team. This need for speed causes them to view questions or concerns from their team as annoying delays rather than valued input.

Not wanting to be seen as a nuisance, team members will soon stay quiet rather than offering their perspectives. Afraid to slow down their leader, they will simply check out of the conversation. When the leader finally does ask for their support, they’ll go along out of convenience rather than “bogging down” the discussion with their opinions.

2) They withhold information

Leaders shut their team out of the decision-making process by withholding information from them. This may happen unintentionally, in that leaders forget to share what they know on a regular basis. Oftentimes, however, leaders simply enjoy the control that comes from having more knowledge than everyone else.

Since they’re uninformed, team members feel like important decisions are beyond their grasp. Fearful of being chided for not seeing “the big picture,” they give tacit approval to whichever course the leader chooses.

3) They turn a deaf ear to feedback

Hearing-impaired leaders demotivate teammates from participating in decision-making. When people feel like their ideas and suggestions are continually being ignored, then eventually they’ll stop offering them. Since being unheard makes them feel small, people will withdraw into silence rather than expressing themselves. When asked to commit to decisions, they’ll reluctantly nod approval, even when they disagree, since they doubt their viewpoints will have a listening ear.

Have you ever had the sensation of leading a meeting, not with fellow humans, but with bobble-head dolls? Instead of input, all you get are vacant stares and bland nods of agreement? If this has happened to you, then SOUND THE ALARM! Your team has checked out of the conversation.

If you find yourself surrounded by bobble-heads, then you need to re-engage them. For starters, bring your team in on your next major decision. Then, as best as you can, explain the context surrounding the upcoming decision. Next, invite questions. Be thorough in your responses; don’t rush past this step. Finally, choose the decision that makes the most sense to you, and then enlist your team in the decision-making process by asking them to answer the following questions:

1. What negative implications could this decision have?
2. What assumptions underlie the decision?
3. Do the assumptions make sense?
4. Who must we persuade to support our decision?

By consulting your team, you’ve not only refined and improved the decision, but you’ve also given them ownership of it. Now, the entire team will be more likely to offer the decision their full support. Hopefully, you’ve also taught them to critically evaluate decisions and have given them freedom to speak their minds more candidly in the future.

You’ve likely heard the term “house rules” referring to the variations in the way people play board games or card games.  Have you ever been midway through a game only to realize that your interpretations of the rules differed from another player’s understanding of them? If you have a competitive streak, then you know how quickly the discrepancy can turn into a heated argument or fierce debate.

When I encourage teams to set ground rules, I’m often greeted with a chorus of complaints.

“Aren’t we all adults here?”
“Aren’t we mature enough to respect one another?”
“Don’t we know how to behave?”

But, that’s exactly the problem—if you have two people on a team, you will have two different perceptions on how a team should work together most effectively. Neither one is necessarily wrong or right, but they are assuredly different. Based on our upbringing and past experiences, we don’t agree on the definition of proper, mature, or respectful behavior.

Exercise for Establishing Team Rules

1) Instruct team members to close their eyes and picture the greatest team they were ever a part of.

Who was on the team? What results did you achieve together? What role did you play in that success? How were decisions made? How did it feel to be on this team?

2) Ask each person to record what he or she saw, felt, and heard during the visioning exercise.

3) Ask each person to share what he or she wrote down with the rest of the team. This is a moment of vulnerability for everyone on the team, and it’s absolutely vital that you hear each person’s unique voice and perspective.

4) Rephrase the common responses that came up. For example:

“Everyone knew why they were there.”
“We were like family.”
“We didn’t always achieve every goal, but we gave it everything we had.”

As you recap what was said, imprint on their memories what it felt like to be part of an extraordinary team.

5) After every person has shared their story, you have to do the tough work of melding these diverse perspectives and recurring themes into clear rules of engagement that all can live by. I recommend keeping the number small and directly related to this team at this point in time. You want to select four to six critical principles that will steer your individual behavior, and your behavior toward one another.

By clearly laying out the expectations for working together to achieve results, you’ll avoid unproductive, unnecessary conflict on your team. Taking the time to set behavioral norms demonstrates that, although results matter, how you arrive at those results also counts on your team.