>Assume that errors are a function of our humanness, and while they can be
>reduced, they will not be eliminated.
For many years, I wished errors could be eliminated. But recently, they
seem to do an amazing job of pointing us in new directions.
We had an event occur yesterday that changed our company. It went like
this:
1. A member of one team had a conflict with a member of another team.
2. There was blame both ways and words were spoken that shouldn't
have been said.
3. Both people were hurt and were performing poorly because of it.
4. They began complaining to other team members.
When you look at that progression, what is the normal result? Sometimes
it disappears on it's own, sometimes it grows into a worse situation. But
this time, the result was very different.
5. A third team member stepped in, ask the cause of the
situation, and discovered that he had the same problem as they did.
6. Then he asked this question: "If we have all had this
problem, what solution could we create that would have all of us be more
successful because of the problem?"
7. Within minutes, they had generated many solutions and one was
a new direction for a program we market.
8. An hour later, they were presenting their solution to the head
of our company and they are now in charge of making it happen. And this
is a pilot to see if it becomes a new direction for all of our programs.
All this success came from one person thinking in a non-linear fashion and
the other two being willing to participate in the conversation. He acted
as if the problem was part of the process of creating success and declared
it could actually cause everyone to be more successful. He asked them to
step outside the conflict and see how it affected the entire organization.
He ask them to consider the future (not just past and present) and what
outcome they wanted.
The key here is this: They were creating a new form of success. Not just
solving a problem. Many times when people try to solve a problem, all
they focus on is the problem. Instead, this team focused on creating a
form of success that would eliminate the problem as a byproduct of the
success.
The most interesting part for me happened in the last step. When they
presented their idea, they were an excited team. They were creating a
whole new vision for that program and they were proud to be working
together. The solution/vision had bonded them and it also moved the
company forward. But it wouldn't have happened without the error and the
"non-linear thinking".
We are just experimenting with this "non-linear thinking" way of
conducting business, but we sure like it. We'd love to hear your comments
and ideas.
Hal Croasmun
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