In my view, "Dysfunctional Team" is an oxymoron. Because I think a "Team" always functions effectively. We may have observed a group of people struggling to work together effectively. We label them as "Team" and may conclude that they are a "Dysfunctional" Team. Are we sure that they are a "Team" already? Or, we may say that they are a "Team" who are going through a storming phase probably (reference: Drive by Daniel Pink)? Or is there something deeper (in play) that we should be more curious to discover?
I want to share a perspective on the journey of a group of people evolving into a Team. Therefore, until they become a team, we should continue to address them as a group of people who are constantly exploring and learning to find the most effective ways to work together. A group of people goes through the following four stages before evolving into One Team.
A. Reflecting: Every person reflects on their previous experiences and shares
their context on the operating model.
B. Colliding: Generally speaking, the context and views may differ profoundly when people from
diverse backgrounds. Naturally, these stark differences lead to conflicts.
C. Evolving: Among the group of people, there will be people with high emotional intelligence. They
play an instrumental role in facilitating the conversations and helping the team explore and
discover a common purpose. The common goal binds the group of people, and therefore, they eventually
evolve into One Team.
D. Learning: I wondered whether I should call the last stage "Improving" or "Learning." Finally,
"Learning" won over "Improving." "Improving" is strongly associated with quantification or some
material gains. But, on the other hand, the word "Learning" reveals some profound insights that may
strengthen our foundation yet do not lead to any material gains (superficially). The team merges
into the act (i.e. the shared vision). Naturally, they transform into a high-performing team that
demonstrates a high degree of curiosity.
Thank you for reading the article. Please provide your thoughts comments.