Fantasy football* is a game in which the participants serve as the general managers of virtual profes
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January 31 · Issue #29 · View online
Feeding the Passion for Transformation: Be it Talent, Culture, Work or HR
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Fantasy football* is a game in which the participants serve as the general managers of virtual professional gridiron football teams. The competitors choose their team rosters by participating in a draft in which all players of a real football league are available. Points are based on the actual performances of the players in the real-world competition. ( Wikipedia) Ok, so what does fantasy football (EEOA for ROW: premier league) have to do with the new world of work, successful innovation and our role as people leaders?
Quite a lot actually. In the new world of work, the way we work and understand team is also changing. The speed, rate of urgency and ability to create new “boxes” based on combining knowledge in unique and effective ways is the new competitive advantage. This means, in turn, that the who and what is considered to be a team is also changing. Long gone are the days when team only meant the people who shared an office with you, had the same manager, and were part of the same functional department ( and the team you were supposed to be most beholden to). There have been team organizational structures to secure/foster/force collaboration e.g. project management ca. 1915 when Henry Gantt created his (in)famous chart for cross-functional teaming, in the 70’s with partially autonomous work teams or Quality Circles (both preferred only for production, please) ca. 2001, Agile changed the face of software development and since crossed-over into organizational design…So what is the next iteration of teaming that changes up the game?
Cross-boundary teaming - people from different disciplines and schools of thought actively choosing to contribute their expertise in order to tackle challenging problems or innovate new solutions. In essence, Fantasy Football teams are called up to the field/pitch in the hope that the players will find that synergetic flow to win the game. Cross-boundary teaming (aka extreme teaming) is the new game in town. Organizations, communities of practice - and individuals who are hungry for growth and learning - are asking, “who can I collaborate with that will bring a unique and different perspective to this question?” The unfamiliar is embraced, thought-paradigms are questioned and one’s expertise is being used in new ways. In a recent global study by Mercer, they state that distributed and flexible team is crucial in the Human Age of Growth. “ It is critical for them (organizations ) to establish an architecture that allows for seamless communication and builds trust, confidence, and camaraderie among widely dispersed team members.” As we look to how people leverage technology (including machine learning), add capabilities to tackle new situations, we are stepping up to the Innovation Bowl league to discover the real breakout players.
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When the whistle blows, will you step up to the pitch?
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Audacious Innovation: Coaching Leaders to Change the World with Professor Amy Edmondson
In fast growth, globally diverse world, organizations and challenges are looking for “extreme teaming”: intense collaboration across professions and industries that often have completely different mindsets. To do this successfully requires practicing new forms of leadership, humility and curiosity - and teaming. In 2016, via a case study on Living PlanIT, Harvard professor Amy Edmondson gave a talk to the IOC (Instute of Coaching) on “teaming,” where people come together quickly (and often temporarily) to solve new, urgent or unusual problems. In this case study, a disparate group of software entrepreneurs, real estate developers, city government officials, architects, construction companies, and technology corporations needed to successfully collaborate. This is a deeper dive helpful for coaches, leaders and anyone leading cross-industry collaboration efforts. Amy’s slides are also available for download.
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Amy Edmondson: How to turn a group of strangers into a team | TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript | TED
In this great TED talk, Amy Edmondson touches on the power of co-creation, motivation towards a common, meaningful goal. She dives into the subjects of diverse teaming, brave spaces e.g. psychological safety and the power of Why and What beyond a how.By recalling stories of teamwork on the fly, such as the rescue of 33 miners in Chile in 2010, Edmondson shares the elements needed to turn a group of strangers into a quick-thinking team that can nimbly respond to challenges.
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The Unique Challenges of Cross-Boundary Collaboration MIT Sloan Frieda Klotz
Author Frieda Klotz writes: “Technology has made business more globally connected than ever before, allowing organizations to join forces across professions, geographies, and industries. This is especially true for innovation projects, where diverse experts bring their specialized knowledge into play. But there’s a hitch: These kinds of team projects have built-in hurdles because of differing communication styles, cultures, and professional norms.” In the conversation with Amy Edmondson, she dives in a bit deeper to the subjects of humility, curiosity and openness in order to “extreme team”.
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Extreme Teams: Why Pixar, Netflix, AirBnB, and Other Cutting-Edge Companies Succeed Where Most Fail Robert Bruce Shaw
I was very happily surprised that the book on Extreme Teams was available as an audiobook online. If you have 7 hours and don’t want to buy the book, definitely worth a car trip/waiting around at the airport listen in. Robert Bruce Shaw gives a good analysis on the success factors, mission and principles over process of a few companies known for their strength in innovation.
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Creating Teams of the Future Randall Peterson London Business School
While chairing a Learning Futures event last year in Zurich, I had the opportunity to talk with LBS Professor Randall Peterson about team productivity, member diversity and performance measures. In this LBS live talk, he dives into the elements to create strong teams. He talks about the challenges of “cross-overs of thought-worlds” of specialists and how making beliefs or assumptions explicit is not self-explanatory. He gives recommendations beyond coordinating agendas. Randall is doing some interesting research out of LBS and his thinking is worth checking out.
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Business - Work Life - Adam Grant- EP.#5: How to Trust People You Don’t Like
Adam Grant’s WorkLife is a good podcast focusing on “how to make work not suck”. In this edition, Adam dives into the topic of trust, why the strongest bonds are formed in challenging situations, how the tendency to go to people we like and trust can be detrimental to solving challenges. Adam put the transcript on LinkedIn.
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Linda Hill: How to manage for collective creativity | TED Talk
What’s the secret to unlocking the creativity hidden inside your daily work, and giving every great idea a chance? Harvard professor Linda Hill, co-author of “Collective Genius,” has studied some of the world’s most creative companies to come up with a set of tools and tactics to keep great ideas flowing – from everyone in the company, not just the designated “creatives.” Innovation and creation are not part of most job titles - but they are the spirit necessary to do either well.
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A Large Scale Study on Global Talent | Mercer
This is the 2018 human resources trends study ( yes, I know it is 2019 but it is still January, so the info is still viable), where Mercer dives into what they mean by the Human Age of Growth. The topics: change at speed, working with purpose, permanent flexibility, platform of talent, and digital from the inside out. All elements fostering extreme teaming. Worth a download. For nerdy types like me there are also separate trend reports by industry, country.
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The power of collaboration, thinking beyond boundaries and being empowered to do so is a particular passion of mine. It is something I was proud to facilitate in my former role as Talent Director be it from changing over the supply chain organization to helping create the biggest leap in employee engagement ever measured by a vendor. The power of co-creation is fuels innovation, a sense of contribution and ownership: if done on a good basis of trust, brave space and sense of accountability. Along those lines, I am proud to announce that, I am teaming with Anne-Cècile Graber on a co-creation culture process guide for start-ups, established organizations, the people role (aka HR) and network communities of expertise ( watch this space: expected launch 2019). If this is a topic that you are jazzed about or if the topic of cross-boundary teaming is something that you would like to dive deeper into for your organization or team, please let me know. Would love to help support you! So with that Allstars - get your game on and go play, Liz
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Elizabeth Lembke, Transforming Talent Consulting: www.transformingtalent.co and www.transformingtalent.de
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