Corollary to Paradox of Play

So here's a thought - what if those team members who are not quite as productive as everyone else - the ones that are not so bad as to make their manager concerned, just have low enough productivity to be mildly annoying to the rest of the team - what if these people actually have some value that goes beyond what is measurable by normal individual stats? A sort of corollary to the the Paradox of Play as applied to teams, if you will.

I can think back on several teams to individuals that fit this general description. Invariably, these were the same team members that organized potluck lunches and other social events for the team. Sometimes the other members recognized some value to this social contribution and sometimes it was the source of some derision or overlooked altogether. But even when their efforts weren't fully appreciated, it sure seems to me that these people had a positive impact on the team as a whole.

True, if I have to choose between these folks and those who are more consistently productive, as a manager, I'd probably go with productivity. But I sometimes wonder if maybe there's some kind of synergy between the more socially adept and the productivity-focused that make the whole team more effective than it would be without them. They might not be putting up the same numbers as the other team members, but maybe they're helping to boost everyone else's stats simply by their presence alone. I guess that would make them some sort of a catalyst if it were true. Not that I can prove this theory at the moment but it'd probably be worth investigating, don't you think?

I'm sure that at the very least it's more enjoyable to be on a team that has some fun while they work and that's got to be worth something too, right?

If you have thoughts about the social butterflies one way or the other, send them to me at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com - I'm definitely interested to get some more data on this one.

How do you balance fun and productivity?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

What We All Want - Part II

My personal feeling is that there's something else besides making a difference that we all want. I thought about it while driving to John Moe's book signing the other night and was pleased to hear and read that he'd basically come to the same conclusion - for those of us who have kids in our lives, there are three essential things we all want for them. We want our children to be safe, healthy, and happy.

We might disagree on the exact order but these Big Three are pretty standard across the board. If we spend any time at all looking for it, we're bound to run into differing views on what it takes to ensure our children's health, safety, and happiness. But if we start with that common ground and keep coming back to it every time we get wrapped around the axle because of the differing viewpoints, then maybe - just maybe, we can, with some civility, still work out the how of it together in a way that brings people together rather than drive them apart.

It seems clear to me that this basic logic applies to religion as well as to politics. For some, feeling closer to God (pick your version) is part of the equation, for others, not so much. In both cases the health, safety and happiness is still a point of common ground. In the case of politics, it's a matter of what the government's role is in this equation - and the basic goals are still the same.

In the workplace, we might expand our viewpoints to include other goals - and even so, the same basic principles can apply. Somewhere, somehow, there is something around which we can establish common ground. Establishing that as a base point, we can begin to work from that known quantity of agreement to navigate the territory of the unknown. When we get to know each other as people, it makes all the rest of it easier.

Throughout, I find it helps to have an understanding our own minds and a willingness to listen to others'. Lean back, and open yourself up to take it all in, then carefully pick through what you hear to find more common ground and use it to expand your base. Expanding and shifting perspective need not be a threatening thing.

Here's what I like best about John's book - that he was willing to stretch his thinking that way and share with all of us the process. I found it fun and enlightening reading. I don't know yet if people on both sides of the convervative/liberal fence will feel the same way and am hopeful they will. My sincere hope is that more people will feel compelled to try expanding their thinking themselves than they will feel compelled to say, See, we're Right! or See, they are a bunch of losers!

I'm of course proud to have been able to share some skills with John that he has told me he found useful but there's an important distinction to be made here - I just helped a teeny bit with the how... the interest and ability to put it to use was all him and I'm way more proud of him and what he's accomplished. I'm hoping there will be many more to follow. It sure seems to me like we'd all be that much more likely to get what we want if we're finding ways to do that together rather than continually detouring to fight with each other about the best way to do it.

If you've managed to work through differences to pursue common goals, I hope you'll send your thoughts to me techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com so that the rest of us can get a better idea of how that works and where the incentives are to do it.

What would it take to expand your opinion of what's right or what works?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.

What We All Want

My son thinks I'm famous, a notion that I actually find quite amusing, especially since I was once (and he 'knows' it), but not for the reasons he's glommed onto now. When I showed him my name in the back of John Moe's book, Conservatize Me, I really only did it because I figured he might find it mildly interesting. And I steeled myself for an appropriately pre-teenager derisive (or worse, completely devoid of emotion) "Oh." Instead, what I got was an enthusiastic hug and wide eyes proclaiming my importance in a world beyond his own - Wow, you're famous! It was in that moment that I began to re-think my position on why we sometimes pursue fame, or at least appear to.

Sure, it's nice to feel well-regarded within my own family and circle of friends. And for some, fame or recoginition mean credibility, access, or power, which might be inducement enough to crave it. I'll even readily admit that there are perq's to being a celebrity that are kinda cool - getting invited to sit in the players' wive's section at baseball games is one that I appreciated - but I've always maintained that the downsides mean that (for me anyway) the equation never really quite balances out in favor of pursuing fame.

Thinking about what it is that makes me proud to have been on-air for all those years even when my performances didn't always warrant such pride and proud to have been associated with John's project in however small a way it was and exactly why it is that I'm so happy that just having my name in a book means so much to the junior member of the family all helped me to crystallize my thoughts on the matter.

For me, and I suspect for a great many others out there too, it's not the fame itself that matters so much. What matters is that it is a flag indicating that we've achieved something else that matters even more. We've made a difference.

Let me know at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com how you make a difference. I always like to know these things.

What does "making a difference" mean to you and what qualifies as that?

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Kimm Viebrock is an ICF-credentialed Associate Certified Coach who helps technology professionals and service-oriented technology groups develop and use their skills more effectively and increase their value within the larger organization, allowing them to do more, do it better and have more fun doing it. Kimm is devoted to finding the connectedness in life.