Who are Your Team Anchovies, Who is Your Salt?
Team Culture and Performance Depend on the Unique Abilities and Flavors of the Team
It's fun to play with ingredients to spark new flavors and combinations.
The other week, I opened a long forgotten can of anchovies from my pantry. I've never used them, but their potency and flavor impact can be powerful. I had a few ideas on how to unleash this flavor!
They say it's only failure if you don’t learn, right? 😜
I ruined a portion of pasta salad that I thought would be amazing with a touch of ground up anchovy. Then I added it to my salad dressing, and although not horrible, it wasn't exciting either.
This got me thinking about teams and how each person's individual makeup contributes to the greater team flavor.
Think of the team you lead or are on now...
Do you have any anchovies or salt on your team?
I've been both.
During a time in my career I was congratulated and even sought after for how unique my abilities were amongst my peers, yet as time passed it became harder and harder for me to find a place to fit - These were my anchovy days.
I've also had my salt days, the times when I was sprinkled among many projects due to my role, capacity, abilities, and reach. These were tiring days, but I enjoyed them.
One wasn't necessarily better than the other, but understanding the unique impacts and how people connect, relate, and co-create together is a huge part of the battle when it comes to amplifying team performance.
This is the hard part of being a leader - often times leaders are given teams that they didn't hire, figuring out how to assemble the best recipe with a set amount of ingredients.
Assessments can help, just take them with a grain of salt (see what I did there? 😋)
Most importantly, have discussions on this topic, and make it easy to discuss team dynamics.
And if you want to use LEGO Serious Play, give us a holler
While the leader may set the table for the culture of the team, how each person shows up and interacts determines the true flavor of team itself.
What ingredient are you in your team recipe?
Understanding the complexity of team communication is half the battle. Solving it is the other half. Let us help your team navigate these complexities with our LEGO-based sessions on communication, collaboration, and connection. Contact us today to learn more and see how we can transform your team's communication dynamics. Let's build a better team together!
We have facilitators in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, and more! We also travel!
