In your professional or personal life, where do obstacles arise on a recurring basis?
When you review the situations in your life where you felt that you were blocked or something was grating inside you, you’ll perhaps find out that it is the same type of situation that repeats itself that prevents you from moving forward. Or the same type of person. Or the same figure.
In your professional life, irritating and limiting situations also may arise recurrently. Are you usually the one on a team who’s the most effective? Or where there are continuous frictions with a person? Or does a newcomer get a promotion before you? Or is it difficult to ask for something from your team that goes outside of their usual routine? Or do you not want to provoke something conflictive?
Such recurring patterns increase your level of stress or anxiety and point to the need to face it to get out of your comfort zone and… grow and increase your freedom.
Scan your life and ask yourself: What is the stone in my shoe?
Scan your team and ask yourself: What is the stone in our shoe?
In Lean, with the concept of Herbie, the constraining factor, it is considered that you cannot go faster in a process than the slowest element. Which means that you have to solve this problem from that point itself, distribute the work or weight, help this step speed up and create more flow in the process. It can be a stage of the process or a member of the team.
“A weak link can determine whether a professional sports team wins, a surgery team saves a life, or a disaster response team prevents a catastrophe” (p. 123)
This quote 👆 comes from a study by J. Lukas Thurmer & al. from the University of Pittsburgh (2022) which investigates into how the balance between giving and receiving in relationships serves as the basis for “the success of the human species” – I add … of teams.
⚖️ In a team, there is an intrinsic rule of balance between giving and receiving. You expect to receive as much as you give and a healthy team is one where you can give as much as you take.
Now, if you think that the member of the group who does not help would like to help, has a pro-group intention but cannot contribute due to lack of something, you will be more tolerant. However, if you think the person DOESN’T WANT to contribute, it will upset you and create hostility.
They give the example of chipping in for a gift – in which one person cannot participate due to lack of financial means or does not want to participate even if they have the means. Giving the pro-group person possibilities to improve their action (they could do something other than participate financially, such as wrapping it up for instance) or improve their skills in a team, would re-balance the equation.
Although some tasks may be out of reach for an individual, by demonstrating that you would like to acquire the necessary skill, your team members are less likely to view you negatively.
Converting the prejudice that group members have into trust toward this particular member requires that as a leader, you overcome your own negative reaction as you take on a supportive role in getting them to where you’d like them to be. If the person believes that they cannot acquire the necessary skill, encourage them to try little by little. Someone who truly wants to give will accept your help with gratitude and enthusiasm.
But what about the person who doesn’t seem pro-group?
What is this pebble in your shoe?
Have you looked closely at this give-take relationship?
What has happened in the past that could explain the situation? Have they given more than they have received and acting out of bitterness? Have their expectations not been met or were they unrealistic? How could they give more than they are giving now? What is happening at a systemic level? Have you had a clear conversation? It is important to put everything on the table before the situation becomes entrenched and relationships become toxic.
We address this concept in our “Lidera con Salud” program starting soon: www.lideraconsalud.es
We help you be more productive in your personal and professional life naturally – and happier too.
Sign up for our webinar Wednesday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m (Madrid). It will be in Spanish : you’ll be very much welcome and you’ll enjoy as from a low intermediate level in Spanish.