Lessons from Mars

We tend to talk about collaboration as if it were one thing. It isn't. Different kinds of teams and groups collaborate to different degrees. Understanding this is essential to effective teamwork.

Shared goals are considered essential to teamwork. They matter but they don't drive collaboration. In fact they drive more individual effort. It's shared work that is the key to unlocking intentional collaboration

Organizations encourage teamwork at every turn. And yet, those same organizations will tell you that the teamwork they're getting isn't adequate. It's because they are missing the key insight from my work with teams: to get results-driven individuals to collaborate, you have to understand what really motivates them as individuals.

Most of what passes for teamwork in the workplace is helpfulness. Teamwork is seen as being willing to support your fellow employees when needed, to be supportive. That's great, but great teamwork is less reactive and more proactive. It is intentional.

We romanticize teamwork. "Team” and “teamwork” have become hollow jargon. Mention team building and people roll their eyes. That cynicism is a shame. We need a new language for building group effectiveness. That language begins with embracing a focus on collaboration.

The commonly accepted models for team effectiveness have out-lived their effectiveness. Why? They were developed in a different time, when the work place was different from today. There are important shifts that have taken place in the past 60 years that have to be accounted for in how we work with teams.

My work at Mars, Incorporated had a profound effect on how I think about and work with teams. Understanding the role that this privately held, quirky company had on my thinking and practice is worth understanding.

I am on a mission to humanize the workplace. Improving collaboration, helping people connect with people in productive and meaningful ways is the point, it's why I do what I do. What I hope you'll take away from these podcasts is a series of ideas and tools that you can apply in your work with leaders and groups to make the changes that you want to see in the world.

I am on a mission to humanize the workplace. Improving collaboration, helping people connect with people in productive and meaningful ways is the point, it's why I do what I do. What I hope you'll take away from these podcasts is a series of ideas and tools that you can apply in your work with leaders and groups to make the changes that you want to see in the world.