Compared to struggling and stuck teams, thriving teams do not necessarily have more resources and certainty. We do work differently. We work from questions, agreement, inclusion, integrity, initiative, passions and strengths.
Questions
Good questions are the foundation for how we organize everything, learn, create and connect together. Our planning is more realistic and conversations more connecting because we work from questions rather than assumptions or manage by hope.
Agreement
Agreements create a culture of shared trust and respect. We co-create tested agreements on how we communicate, make decisions, get things done and respond to unpredictables. Working by agreement is the opposite of working by assumption or impositions.
Inclusion
We make decisions together because we're smarter together and we naturally support what we decide together. Inclusion creates alignment and velocity by reducing bottleneck and disconnects. We work in pairs when possible.
Integrity
Integrity is transparency. At any point in time, we can see what others on the team are doing, needing and offering. This makes for optimum coordination and collaboration. Things don't slip through cracks and balls don't get dropped.
Initiative
Things get done seamlessly because everyone is free to assign themselves to work. Self and peer accountability is the highest, most sustainable level of accountability. This makes thriving teams high engagement teams.
Passions
We work from our personal and shared passions: what we most want to see possible in our work and world. Working with passion energizes us with resilience and creativity. We thrive in a world where uncertainty and ambiguity are constants. Passion creates relentless focus.
Strengths
We focus on our strengths because we are clear that progress and success only comes from engaging our strengths. The more we focus on our strengths, the more we get done and the more we enjoy our work. Unlike stuck and struggling teams, we do not get distracted by weaknesses and deficiencies.
Getting culture right is vital to growing a high engagement, innovative organization. Culture cannot be mandated or incentivized. It is the direct result from how teams work. The good news is that every team has the abilities required. All they need is to learn how to put these together to grow a thriving team.