In my opinion, yes, Tom Wujec has a point in his comparison
of kindergarteners and business students. Kindergarteners go with the flow more
so than adults. While kids may not have the emotional ability to deal with some
of the conflict that comes with group work, they also do not have the preconceived
idea about someone being higher on the totem pole than they are. In other
words, they are all equal in ability in each other’s minds. Their skills may
differ according to the task, but the overall group hierarchy remains flat.
Executive assistants perform better than the CEOs because the
CEOs are usually the overseers of the project, but the administrative
assistants are often the ones who are coordinating the project and making
everything come together when it is supposed to. Duncan (2011) claims that
administrative assistants have the ability to see what is going to happen
before it happens, create a smooth environment for their bosses, and are able
to manage temperaments and culture very well. So the CEOs are able to zoom out
and see the big picture but when it comes to zooming in on the details of the
project, they are not as well equipped to deal with the details as their
assistants. An
example of this is right in front of me in my own organization. The CTO is
great at delegating and assigning responsibilities to others. She knows what
she wants to happen (the vision) and can articulate it to those around her;
however, when it comes down to actually doing the work, someone else is usually
responsible for that. This is not to say that she could not do it if she had
to, but I certainly think that she surrounds herself with knowledgeable,
skillful people and trusts that they will handle the process. The coupling of
her visions and her employees’ attention to detail makes for a successful
department.
Recently, at the Worldwide Conference, we were tasked with
something like what is depicted in the video. It was interesting to me to watch
the team dynamic at our table. None of us knew each other (which was supposed
to be the point of the exercise…getting to know people better) and nobody
really stood out as a leader. Eventually, after we sat there all thinking for
several minutes, one of the Campus Directors and I stepped up and began to work
on the project. There were 2 faculty members who did not do anything to help us
build our towers and we never did get to the point where we were all working
together as a team or assigning roles to one another. I wondered afterward if
we had had more time, would we have been a more cohesive and well-rounded team.
We did get our M&Ms to stay put on the top of our tower, but we did not
have the highest tower.
If I were leading a similar exercise, I would definitely
direct the group to assign tasks to members of the group. Some of the process
intervention skills that I think would work well in this situation would be:
clarifying, synthesizing, observing, and proving feedback (Blessing, n.d.). The
first thing that should be done for the group is clarify the task ensuring that
each group member understands what need to be done and the steps to take to
accomplish the goal. Synthesizing happens once the group has had a chance to
add their own ideas on the process of building the tower. The list can be
complied and members assigned a part in the building process. The observer for
the group can provide feedback about what is working and what is not so that
the team can adapt and adjust along the way. Had we taken the time to do this
at the conference, I believe that the entire group would have been involved and
the task would have been accomplished faster and more accurately.
As for a takeaway, I have never considered actually assigning
roles to people on a team. I have never been on a team where that happens.
However, I definitely see the benefit of it since most of the work I do
involves some kind of teamwork. In the future, should I find myself as the
leader of the team, I would like to try to assign tasks and roles to my
teammates to see if it helps achieve goals in a more effectively.
References:
Blessing, M. (n.d.). Types of process intervention skills.
Retrieved from
http://www.ehow.com/info_8007762_types-process-intervention-skills.html
Duncan, M. (2011, May). The case for executive assistants. Harvard
Business Review, Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2011/05/the-case-for-executive-assistants
Wujec, T. (Performer). (2010, February ). Build a tower,
build a team [Web Video]. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower.html
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