{"id":3766,"date":"2010-02-03T09:08:27","date_gmt":"2010-02-03T16:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=3766"},"modified":"2010-02-03T09:22:19","modified_gmt":"2010-02-03T16:22:19","slug":"dare-to-inspire-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=3766","title":{"rendered":"Dare to Inspire (3)"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\"Dora
Dora Maar - Picasso. Courtesy art.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are you working with a \u2018can do\u2019 or \u2018cant do\u2019 project team?<\/strong><\/div>\n

We have all been in both kinds of teams.\u00a0 The difference in potential energy is enormous.\u00a0 And, what a difference that makes to team dynamics and project results!\u00a0 \u2018Can do\u2019 teams seem invincible, welcome challenges and proudly talk about the battles fought and won.\u00a0 This in turn builds their confidence and enables them to meet even more challenges.\u00a0 On the other hand the \u2018cant do\u2019 teams stumble on the most basic issues, squabble constantly and check out as soon as they are able to.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, is there anything you can do as a program manager to transform a \u2018cant do\u2019 team to a \u2018can do\u2019 team?\u00a0 Well, you at least need to try \u2013 because the success of your project depends on it.\u00a0 And, perhaps even more important, you will have more fun in a \u2018can do\u2019 team.\u00a0 I can tell you that having fun means even more to me now that it did 10 years ago.\u00a0 Time goes by fast \u2013 the things you do need to be meaningful.<\/p>\n

I have been told that I have a knack for attracting cool projects and strong \u2018can do\u2019 teams.\u00a0 So, I must be lucky.\u00a0 Huh? Well, I wish it were that simple.\u00a0\u00a0 It was mainly just plain hard work and enabling people to do their best.\u00a0 Things happen because people make them happen.\u00a0 And, I have turned some otherwise bland projects around into cool projects and in the process converted \u2018cant do\u2019 teams to sizzling \u2018can do\u2019 teams.\u00a0 The quote that inspires me most in this process is this:<\/p>\n

“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them.”<\/em> Pablo Picasso<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me give you an example from my past where I had the responsibility of running a project with a cross functional team and many of the members were mired in a \u2018cant do\u2019 mode.\u00a0 When I probed as to why they were in a rut, the feedback was that they were not terribly interested in the project because it just was not \u2018cool\u2019. \u00a0It was not engaging them intellectually. There was an underlying sentiment that \u2018other engineers\u2019 always got to work on the cool stuff while this team was being punished with the old stuff.\u00a0 The project plodded along and I pushed, pulled and threatened to get things done.\u00a0 It was really painful.\u00a0 Then, I tried a different tactic.\u00a0 It hinged on the \u2018coolness\u2019 factor.\u00a0 I know engineers will engage more readily on a cool project than on a ho-hum, run of the mill project.\u00a0 The challenge was that the project was indeed somewhat run of the mill.\u00a0 So, I had to find elements of coolness and spice it up.\u00a0 So, I called the core project team to a meeting and we had a discussion about how we can make this project a bit more interesting.\u00a0 The team had lots of ideas about adding new features.\u00a0 We had to be careful \u2013 we had a concrete deadline to meet \u2013 and I did not want this to get out of control.\u00a0 But, at the same time, we desperately needed some creative engagement so that the team felt challenged and energized.\u00a0 So after the brainstorming, we selected a few add-ons.\u00a0 These would be the \u2018coolness\u2019 factors.\u00a0 The project team rallied around these add-ons.\u00a0 While they were not a strict requirement \u2013 they added spice to an otherwise bland dish and energized the team.\u00a0 This was the difference between eating boiled chicken or chicken a la king: some spice, some sauce \u2013 makes a bit of difference to the main meal and makes it a bit more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

The project delivered on time with the required content and quality.\u00a0 But, it also resulted in the filing of a couple of patents and cool innovations.\u00a0 The team mindset had changed. They now viewed themselves as innovators and not just doers.\u00a0 The \u2018can\u2019t do\u2019 chorus had transformed to a \u2018can do\u2019 song.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a leader, you need to go beyond the letter of the requirements and tap into the creative spirit of the teams: challenge them to do something beyond reach.\u00a0 Expect more, get more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you working with a \u2018can do\u2019 or \u2018cant do\u2019 project team? We have all been in both kinds of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1494,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}