| "The most important measure of how good a game I'd played was how much better I'd made my teammates play." |
Asking Questions ...
Team Learning is not "team building"
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, pg 355, Charlotte Roberts
Don't even think of starting this work until you have thought
through its implications and decided you want to proceed. This
discipline goes well beyond "team building" skills such as creating
courteous behaviours, improving communications, becoming
better able to perform everday work tasks together or even
building strong relationships. This discipline inspires more
fundamental changes, with enduring application that will ripple out
through the organisation.
Team learning is also the most challenging discipline - intellectually,
emtionally, socially and spiritually. The process of learning how to
learn collectively (as compared to individually), is unfamiliar. It has
nothing to do wth the "school learning" of memorizing details to
feed back in tests. It starts with mastery and self-knowledge of,
and alignment with (mouse-over the picture here), others on your
team.
(pg 352) For many years, we have used the concept of alignment
as distinct from agreement, to capture the essence of team
learning. Alignment means “functioning as a whole”. Building
alignment (you never “get there”) is about enhancing the team’s
capacity to think and act in new synergistic ways, with full
coordination and a sense of unity, because team members know
each other’s hearts and minds.
Don't even think of starting this work until you have thought
through its implications and decided you want to proceed. This
discipline goes well beyond "team building" skills such as creating
courteous behaviours, improving communications, becoming
better able to perform everday work tasks together or even
building strong relationships. This discipline inspires more
fundamental changes, with enduring application that will ripple out
through the organisation.
Team learning is also the most challenging discipline - intellectually,
emtionally, socially and spiritually. The process of learning how to
learn collectively (as compared to individually), is unfamiliar. It has
nothing to do wth the "school learning" of memorizing details to
feed back in tests. It starts with mastery and self-knowledge of,
and alignment with (mouse-over the picture here), others on your
team.
(pg 352) For many years, we have used the concept of alignment
as distinct from agreement, to capture the essence of team
learning. Alignment means “functioning as a whole”. Building
alignment (you never “get there”) is about enhancing the team’s
capacity to think and act in new synergistic ways, with full
coordination and a sense of unity, because team members know
each other’s hearts and minds.
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Disagreement as an opportunity (pg 379)
The moment of disagreement is a cause for celebration. It's a real opportunity to see
what's really going on below the tip of the ice-berg. As alignment develops, people don’t
have to overlook or hide their disagreements; indeed, they develop the capacity to use
their disagreements to make their collective understanding richer.
Often, an affection develops between members of the group with the most opposing
views, as if affection itself is fueled with diversity: "Isn't that amazing," someone might say,
"that you have sch a different idea? Why do you feel that way? How did you come to
it?"
General guidelines for dialogue sessions (pg 379, William Issacs, Bryan Smith)
The moment of disagreement is a cause for celebration. It's a real opportunity to see
what's really going on below the tip of the ice-berg. As alignment develops, people don’t
have to overlook or hide their disagreements; indeed, they develop the capacity to use
their disagreements to make their collective understanding richer.
Often, an affection develops between members of the group with the most opposing
views, as if affection itself is fueled with diversity: "Isn't that amazing," someone might say,
"that you have sch a different idea? Why do you feel that way? How did you come to
it?"
General guidelines for dialogue sessions (pg 379, William Issacs, Bryan Smith)
 | Allow at least two hours, or more if possible, for every session | |
| It is helpful to have a reason to talk and learn - a situation that compels deliberation, | |
| a need to solve a problem, the collective desire to create something new, or a drive to foster new relationships with other parts of the organisation. | ||
| "Checking in" is one of the most powerful ways to kick-off a dialogue session. | |
| Stress the value of speaking from personal experience. When everyone knows that they will have some air time, people tend to relax. | ||
| Avoid agendas and elaborate preparations. These inhibit the free flow of | |
| conversation. | ||
| While meeting over a meal may break the ice, we recommend that you avoid the | |
| temptation; restaurant service and eating can be distracting. | ||
| Agree, as a group, to hold three meetings before you decide whether to continue | |
| or disband. Anything less may not be a fair experiment; it can take time to grow into the dialogue form of conversation. | ||
| Speak to the centre, not to each other. While challenging to execute, this guideline | |
| underlines the creation of a pool of common meaning, not interpersonal dynamics. |
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