Creating Excitement In Work Groups

CREATING EXCITEMENT IN WORK GROUPS (2000 words) By Geoffrey M. Bellman (Based on his book, THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST: Breathing New Life into Organizations. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2000. www.bkconnection Contact the author at [email protected].) The places most exciting to go visit are those we have yet to see. The questions most intriguing are those we have yet to answer. This is as true of a plant team meeting as it is of a family vacation. The attraction to and repulsion from the Unknown excites our energy.

Work groups often rise to the challenge of working hard together to meet plan. Or, cooperating to execute a strategy. Even completing a meeting on time, all agenda items covered, can be a thrill! But for sheer energy generated, these goal-oriented accomplishments do not compare to stepping off the edge of their organizational map into uncharted territory. Doing so with a group of committed people can be a life-altering experience. The Unknown is a reliable source of individual and group energy—not always comfortable, but reliable. Many people respond to the excitement, the mystery, the fear, the possibility, that the Unknown offers. The organizational challenge is not so much in creating that excitement as releasing it.

The planned, structured, controlled nature of our large organizations (and our small selves) doesn’t want to acknowledge the Unknown. It does not fit with plan; it cannot be controlled. Our structures prefer the predictable to the unpredictable which threatens order and must be eliminated. Major projects have their outcomes defined before they begin: “We know what we are doing and where we are going!” “I don’t know!”, is an unacceptable response in a high control corporation; say it at the wrong time in the right meeting and you may find your career turning in the wrong direction.

But listen to these comments from a meeting in quite a different organization: "This is worth trying, but I don't have a clue whether it will work.” “We have never done anything like this before so why should we know what to do next?!?”

“What we've been doing doesn’t work all that well so it's time to do something we don't know how to do!” “It's important for us to try this, even though it is very risky!” “That’s a good question, and I love not knowing the answer to it!" The first half of each comment offers an assessment and the second half opens to the unknown. The vitality of each comment comes from the combination of known and unknown; it’s this dynamic between reality and possibility that creates interest and energy. Successful, alive groups have an intuitive sense of the importance of this dynamic, rooted but reaching, grounded but not bounded. Groups that know of this dynamic can talk about it and build on it.

This article offers five ways of creating and building on the dynamic that exists between what is known and unknown by a group (or an individual.) These five methods create new excitement in groups, helping them move from the familiar to the foreign, from the expressed to the unexpressed:

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Clarify the important

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Reveal our secrets

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Offer our gifts

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Proclaim the positive

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Ask intriguing questions

Each of these methods will be offered as a series of questions. Asked at the right moment, they evoke and expand the group’s expression of itself and its potential.

CLARIFY THE IMPORTANT Answer each of these questions, one after another: •

What is your work?

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Why is that important to you?

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And why is that important to you?

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And why is that important to you?

These “ Why?” questions probe for deeper meaning and purpose; each question moves us to another level, coming closer to the truth about the life this work holds for us. Pause to try these questions on yourself regarding a current project. See where the questions lead you. And imagine what your work group could do with them if asked at the right time.

These questions can lead a small group of co-workers toward a better mutual understanding of why they come to work each day. When they share their individual meanings with each other, they discover how much they have in common at a deeper level, at the third Why level. We are much more united at these deeper levels than our job descriptions could ever reflect. As we move to our deeper whys, we come closer to the mutual meanings of this work in our lives: These are the real reasons we come to work; these are the sources of energy for our work together. You have heard others question the motivation of the workers—or the leaders. This series of why questions leads to each individual’s truth about motivation.

REVEAL OUR SECRETS In the context of our work… •

What do you worry about and not discuss with each other?

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What concerns are you keeping to yourself?

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What anxieties keep coming to you that you do not express to others?

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What work concerns do you have that you do not want others to know about?

Many of us tie up our energy in a silent swirl about our doubts …about how well we are doing, or what we can’t do well, or what we don’t know how to do, or how we are fooling others. This hidden, internal swirl of energy is not available for more constructive work. And, because we don’t want anyone to know these secret concerns, we have no way to escape our feelings of being less, being wrong, being inadequate. It feels like we are condemned to carry them forever! What can be done to reduce the burden of what’s being hidden?

This is a touchy area, but I am not going to pass it by just because it is sensitive. Done well and at the right time, a positive excitement can be generated. The challenge is to find a way for people to acknowledge that there is much that is unsaid, and this has become a burden that blocks their effectiveness. Do not begin by asking the group to discuss the questions listed above. That kind of frontal assault will result in everyone shutting down and tightening up. Search for ways for people to acknowledge their unspoken concerns without identifying themselves. For example, here is one way that I have seen work with groups of ten to twenty people: Suggest that everyone thinks about the above questions. Then ask each person to write down one concern that a)that relates to group performance, b)that they have not expressed to the group, c) that they have thought about repeatedly. Tell them that they will not be identified but what they write will be read to the whole group and the group will consider all it hears. Tell them all of this before asking them to do anything. Then have them write their one concern on a separate sheet of paper and drop it into a box. Ask one person to read the concerns to the whole group. When the group hears them all, it can discuss what it heard and deal with the patterns.

People feel better then they discover that their individual concerns are not so individual after all! And that is what usually happens. This reduces secrecy and puts more truth on the table for all to see and use. The secrets are not secrets anymore; a new level of conversation and truth is open for the group. You can feel the new receptiveness and energy when this happens. Be sensitive about opening these secrets, but do not overlook their positive possibilities.

OFFER OUR GIFTS In the work we are doing together: •

What do you do particularly well?

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What do you enjoy doing with others?

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What do you have to offer that you would like to give to the larger organization? Abilities? Background? Perspective? Attitudes? Experience?

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What do you have that others in the organization could benefit from?

These questions draw out our desire to contribute what is most unique about ourselves. Think of it as the gifts people would like to offer. In a receptive setting, people willingly and energetically tell you of the talents they have developed over the years. Imagine asking everyone working in a five hundred person organization to answer these questions…Imagine five hundred people, or one hundred groups, each noting three talents they could bring to work. Think of the hundreds gifts that are available to the organization!

And how might you do this with a work group? Start by explaining the process, presenting the above questions to the group, and getting their support for answering the questions. Then ask individuals to spend three minutes alone thinking about the gifts they bring and completing this statement three times: “I bring _______.” When they are all ready, go around the group asking each person to share one of their three answers: “I bring…I bring…I bring…I bring…” Go around the group three times with no other comments. Just listen. And afterward, talk together about what you heard, what you felt, and what you might do with all of these gifts.

PROCLAIM THE POSITIVE •

When have you been especially proud of this group?

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What do you appreciate about others in this group?

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What have been some of your best experiences in working together?

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What do you see that gives you hope for this group?

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What have you seen happen in this group that draws it together?

These questions draw out our positive thoughts and experiences; they elicit stories of appreciation for what we already have; they reduce preoccupation with the negative. When answered honestly, life begins to display itself, people get excited. This is not the whole picture, but it is the side of the picture frequently neglected or crowded out by more critical voices. Those critical voices are important too, but not as likely to be the source of new group vitality. Ask the questions; listen to the stories that come back as answers.

ASK INTRIGUING QUESTIONS

I have used this fifth and last method in the earlier four. It asks people what they do not know that they would like to know; it is a series of questions about questions: •

What questions intrigue you?

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What questions arouse your curiosity? Excitement?

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What questions keep running through your mind, over and over again?

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What are the questions that you have not answered, may never answer, but keep asking yourself?

These questions can provoke some intriguing responses. Our regular work is too often filled with answers rather than questions. As I said earlier, we are supposed to know the answers to questions, not to live in the question. We are expected to make statements, showing what we know. The above questions lead us out to the edges of what we know, close to the attractions that lie beyond our knowledge. I watched this happen during a recent meeting. The life had left the meeting; we had no energy for the agenda before us. Then someone said, “Forget what we’ve been talking about, what we’ve done, what we should do…Instead, consider, what questions interest you? What questions are really alive for you? What questions excite you?” During a few moments of silence, we each collected our questions, and then they came spewing forth. With all of our questions, we could feel our excitement build. We used our many questions to decide what we wanted to do next. And we moved in a new direction that had more life for all of us.

These are just five of the many ways of releasing excitement in groups; there are many others: Think about humor’s place in creating energy…or how about sorrow, celebration, play, mourning, ritual. For more clues as to what might bring some new excitement to your organization, consider your experience in your family and other communities: What brings life to them? What are they doing that causes you to feel especially alive? Pay attention to anything that helps these groups explore new territory and reflect on themselves. Discover what excites other groups and bring those ideas to work with you.