Paul Crick is the founder of The Elevate Partnership. Enabling senior leaders and their teams to build resilience from the inside our to thrive in uncertainty.
A team will never be found to exist on an organisation chart.
This small epiphany came to me during a team coaching session, and this post aims to help me think through this idea out loud and encourage others to chip in if moved to do so.
The Case For…
The domain of music may offer a helpful metaphor to help further contemplate this counterintuitive and somewhat heretical idea.
Consider that the dots on the page of a music score are not music.
Much like human language, the dots on the page offer an inadequate representation of something far more nebulous, intangible and potent.
The collection of dots (the collective) does, however, suggest an intention and potential to create an outcome.
The score on the page provides a guide and guardrails as to how the composer wishes them to interact.
Each dot has a set of attributes that describe the role they play.
For example, the musical note 'A' above middle C has one important core attribute. When played, the audio signal sounds at a frequency of 440Hz.
The auditory character of the note 'A' depends on the instrument used to produce its sound, whether or not the audio signal is electronically processed or not, the quality of the instrument used to perceive the sound (e.g. headphones, human ear) and the acoustic properties of the room in which it is heard.
The positional placement of the dot on the page representing the note 'A' indicates when it needs to perform its role - who with (combining with other notes or not), at what speed, with what timing (rhythm), what expression and at what volume.
Context and environment both play a significant role in realising the desired outcome.
Music Is Not A Noun
We objectify music as a noun when, in reality, it is not.
Music is dynamic and occurs within a complex system comprising the instrument(s) and their components (for example, a Steinway piano comprises more than 12,000 individual components combined in various sub-systems e.g. pedals, keys and hammers, soundboard, etc.) and component subsystems, the dots on the page in motion, the performer(s), the audience and the room where the audio output is heard.
Music only occurs in motion. It only emerges when interaction within the system happens.
Until then, a note is simply a two-dimensional, inert parcel of intention and potential.
Neither sound nor transmission of energy and emotion in any direction occurs without interaction and motion.
It’s A Team Jim, But Not As We Know It
And so it is with teams.
We treat the idea of a team as a noun when it’s not.
The dynamics of the interactions that occur in the spaces between the system components define a team.
The organisation chart is akin to the musical score. It’s simply a representation of intention and potential. It is inert.
There is no team until the components interact off the page, showing the organisation chart and in the real world.
There is no outcome otherwise.
Hence, a team will never be found to exist on an organisation chart.
So What?
Until we shift our attention to navigating the spaces in between and the differences that are present, we will continue to drown in the dearth of statistics that reiterate and demonstrate an urgent need to reappraise how we approach teams and team dynamics.
The vision of regenerative leadership practice that many desire and humanity needs is unlikely to materialise.
One of the primary ways we help individuals and teams navigate the spaces between each other well is called The GRACE Framework™️. Learn more about it here.
To connect with Paul, please visit his website.
Comentarios