When a bird is hunting an insect to eat, it must watch out at the same time that it’s not being hunted.
That’s why bird’s brains, (& our brains too) are divided into 2 hemispheres. Humans (and all sentient beings) have survived and prospered because our brains can do 2 things at once.
We must eat, but while we’re eating we mustn’t get eaten themselves.
We have to focus on doing detailed things, whilst keeping a watch out for what’s happening around us, out in the world.
Teams are no different – they need to focus on their tasks as well as reacting to threats.
Leaders need to ensure their teams do both…
Leaders also need to ensure they do both themselves.
The life of a team is much more complex than a pigeon – and needs to be led in a way that can harness complexity, not be defeated by it.
Simple answers have their place, but silver bullets are rarely effective in the real world.
Simplistic or binary thinking can be tempting as a way to harness immediate action, but is dangerous for a leader and almost always reduces team effectiveness over time.
Binary thinking is dangerous because it usually ignores either the food or the cat..
Focusing only on tasks is dangerous, focusing only on externals or politics is also dangerous – its a matter of Balance.
“Humans have prospered because our brains can do 2 things at once”
All leaders need to use shortcuts from time to time, but should be careful.
Do you tend to look for “silver bullet” answers to complex issues ? (Ignoring the risk of failure, the cat..)
How often do you use fear to motivate others? (ignoring the task, focus too much on the cat)
When do you micro-manage? (who’s watching the cat?)
When do you jump to fast conclusions, rather than allowing time to consider the best outcome. (ignoring the task…)
How often do you encourage debate, and difference of opinion in your team, or shut it down? (ignoring the cat..)
In the next few posts we’ll give some examples of balancing eating, with not being eaten..
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