Testimonials

The best people to say whether the approach taken here works are those who have used it. The following are three examples of people and their idiosyncratic experiences. These are not special people with unique capabilities. They are ordinary people like the rest of us. Their particular specialty is in the computer technology business that brought them together as strangers. They then developed into a high performing self-managing team.

Software Development Programmer

When first encountered this programmer was ready to quit the business. She was very angry and depressed about herself, about the computer business and how she fit into the picture. She turned her feelings in on herself and felt nearly empty of self-worth.

But something changed in a major way as a result of her participation and contribution to the team. Here is now where she is.

• “I see myself not as a victim but as a victor now. And the more victorious I become, the more victorious the company becomes.
  • I am validated as a person. The circumstances I have been through are labeled just that: circumstances.
  • The past does not define the future – there is hope.
  • There is freedom to choose within the team how work is done and by whom.
  • There is no competition among the members of the team but only competition within a team member:
    • There is the personal challenge to do one’s best.
    • There are opportunities for each person to stretch and grow.
    • Each person feels she has a non-adversarial team, which becomes a safe place from which to operate.
    • Our energy is applied to tasks and projects – not for jockeying for position or status or any other political posturing. “

How did this complete reversal happen? How long did it take? In reverse order, here are the answers.

• About two years to move from complete defeat to regular high achievement
• By building trust in the team and self, and experiencing significant positive business achievement

This skips over the sometimes teary, angry and frustrating interactions that occurred both privately and publicly in the team. During the process this programmer had a mentor – the manager -- who constantly encouraged her and counseled her about her alternatives. The manager provided training in personal skills needed at times but eventually worked himself out of the picture. The most difficult period was at the beginning when this programmer was working from a very small confidence base. But through repeated small personal successes and observing other team members going through some of the same experience, this person made significant headway as can be seen from her report.

Business Planner

Experienced business managers sometimes focus only on business performance, i.e. profit, margin, investment and the like. This experienced business manager believed, initially, he could do his job very well, thank-you, and did not need anyone else. This was a very strong person who did not need or want a team but he found himself in a department where the manager chose to operate the department as a team. Thus the business manager, to keep his job, reluctantly participated. Now let’s see what he says:

• “I have sometimes been accused of being a ‘green eye shade’ type who cares only about business profitability. Well, there is much truth in this. But I also want to know that this profit comes from doing something really useful and not just turning the crank one more turn. I think this new approach works because:
  • It is sound business. The team is constantly measuring itself against real-world forces.
  • The team has no fixed hierarchy.
  • The team depends on the people with the skills that are most needed for the moment. Which, by the way, constantly change.
  • It doesn’t require a superman or superwoman. “

What turned this independent, non-believer into such a convert? Well in every business plan there are unknowns and unknowables – so called gaps. Usually business planners are required to make sure their plans account for these conditions – but not over account. This is not only difficult to do but also a very, very difficult judgement to make.

This business planner was surprised to find others on his team identifying gaps the business planner had missed and then the team member even filling in these gaps. As the gaps got filled, this was done sometimes without guidance from this business planner. It amazed him that non-business people could perform his specialty and, on a limited basis, do as well. Sometimes, embarrassingly, even better.

When someone covers your “southern exposure” and does not demand anything for it and does not embarrass you then trust is built. There is magic in becoming a high performing team; not just the value of the skills themselves but also the trust and support built among the team members. When trust and realistic self-worth is present, an intimate unselfish collaboration is fostered and becomes the norm. Unsolicited volunteering spontaneously occurs. In this case the business planner became a mentor to the team and taught them more about his specialty. The result was that they understood what he was doing, he knew this and felt appreciated for once and he was motivated to become more flexible and creative in his business alternatives.

Be not misled. This was not just some bland happy family without any troubles. These are real people with all the weaknesses you might expect. But they also came to depend on each other realistically and they became self-managing as a group. Did this pose a problem for the manager? Let’s look in on him next.

Manager of Professionals

It would appear that the team members appreciated the new team environment but what about the department manager? How did he react? Did he feel threatened?

• “I went into management for multiple reasons, some idealistic and some more grubby. One reason was because I felt I could do better than most of the managers I had had. Well, the job was harder than I thought until we took this approach. Under the old way, I had too many demands, too much information I had to handle and too little help from either my manager or my department. This new approach has done a lot for me; and has, most important, made my job satisfying beyond even my original hopes and expectations.
  • My department is performing at an outstanding level.
  • The morale is excellent.
  • I feel the department is on my team and I am on theirs.
  • My manager is impressed and views my department’s results most favorably. My boss sees me as a leader with greater potential.
  • I get respect from my peers. Some have even asked ‘How do you do it?’”

This manager went through just as much transformation as the members of his department. This was not easy since the greater organization was and still is very much hierarchically oriented. But the results were amazing -- the department did its job in such a superior manner that it revolutionized the business the business group is in, was a technologically innovative leader, and most important profitable. Awards, promotions and other recognitions have followed.