Effective Teams: It All Starts With Me

Yes I know we have all heard this before right? But when I talk about starting with “me” I am referring to the fact that I really need to understand “me”. I know you are thinking I do know “me” but not to sound philosophical, can we really know all there is to know about ourselves? The reason I believe that we need to start with “me” is because that is the only member of the team we can truly understand and control.

I am not by any means a young person (I can remember the plate spinners and life before cell phones) but I believe I have learned more about myself in the last 10 years than I did up to then. I have learned about what motivates me, what I want to achieve, and what makes me happy. 

When I work with people I have to check on “me” so I know what I need to do for an effective conversation. This check includes answering the following list of questions so I am clear on what will impact me during the conversation.

• My views on the topic being discussed.
• My views of the other people involved.
• How I believe the group will and won’t consider my input.
• How does this fit in with the overall priorities in my current life. (yes current because our priorities can and do change frequently)
• How do I believe the other people in the group view me?
• What am I doing after the meeting?
• What has happened to me in the last 24 hours?
• What do I want to gain from this conversation?
• What do I have to lose?
• Who in the group has an agenda they are pushing.

I am sure that this is a partial list as I find new things that I need to understand. All of these items add bias to my conclusions.

I really thought about this after watched the movie “I Robot”. For those that haven’t seen the movie, he story takes place in the year 2035 in Chicago, in a world where robots are widespread and used as servants and for various public services. The robots were to follow the “three laws”. The “three laws” are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

But the controlling computer began interpreting the laws as its intelligence evolved. It decided that in order to protect humanity as a whole, some humans must be sacrificed and some freedoms must be surrenders to keep humanity safe. The decision was purely logical and didn’t have any feelings or concerns. It was the best decision.

How many times to we hear that we made the best decision. With the robots they looked at the issue without any preconceived idea of what the best decision is. I am not sure that we can say the same thing when we make decisions. We way we are being unbiased. Yet I do not believe that we can be unbiased. We make decisions based on all of our history and experience. So how can we go into any interactions as an unbiased participant?

So what do you do to keep open to others ideas and information?