Subject: [Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips] A Tale, Part 3 of 3
Welcome to Partnerwerks TeamWisdom Tips!
by Christopher M. Avery, Ph.D.
February 11, 2003
Read by 3248 professionals in 50 countries.
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TeamWisdom(TM) Tips promotes individual mental skills and
behaviors that create highly responsible and productive
relationships at work.
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This week's line-up:
1. 10-Second TeamWisdom
2. Welcome Notes
3. A TALE OF TWO PERSONAL OPERATING SYSTEMS, PART 3 of 3
4. 5-Minute TeamWisdom Stretch
5. TeamWisdom Resources
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1. 10-Second TeamWisdom
We live our lives both Above and Below the line. Noticing,
then climbing are the important life-skills.
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2. Welcome Notes
I wish you a world of responsible and productive
relationships at work.
Thank you for all of your very kind emails about the fable.
It seems to have been a hit. Don't you wish everyone on whom
you depend took 100% ownership for their actions and
results? Guess what? It matters more that you do so. Others
doing so is not going to support you in making better
choices or feeling freer or more powerful. Stop worrying
about whether those around you are responsible for their
actions and start paying attention to your own. One
person--you--can raise the responsibility level of an entire
team. You've witnessed this if you've ever been in one of my
presentations or seminars. If you wish to surround yourself
with people who own their actions and results, stop worrying
about others and start demonstrating your TeamWisdom.
They'll come around.
Soon, I'll be telling you about an exciting but limited
opportunity to study a new model of knowledge team
effectiveness with me and the developers of a powerful and
cost effective team profiling tool. Stay tuned!
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3. A TALE OF TWO PERSONAL OPERATING SYSTEMS, PART 3 of 3
We began a fable afew weeks ago. To refresh your memory, you
can review PART I and PART 2 in the archives.
http://archive.mail-list.com/teamwisdom/msg00190.htmlhttp://archive.mail-list.com/teamwisdom/msg00191.html
Let¹s consider the result of Below getting the headlines and
Above getting the lesson. Two years later, after appropriate
policies were made and enforced to protect drivers on that
treacherous stretch of road, Below and Above coincidentally
were each driving to the next town on business. Driving
nearly side-by-side on the same stretch of highway, they
approached an area of dense fog. Above responded by slowing,
moving to the right and tapping his brakes to warn drivers
behind him. He turned on his low beams (he had learned that
high beams reflect in fog while low beams can illuminate the
pavement under the fog) and emergency flashers and proceeded
at a responsible speed. You know what happened to Below. He
hurled himself and his vehicle into the fog, participating
in his second pile-up in as many years. "Why do these things
keep happening to me!" he blurted out even while the
accident unfolded around him. And then his blood boiled
³When will they ever learn!" "I can see I have another big
battle in front of me to get them to do the right thing
again."
So, the question isn't whether you are more like Above or
Below. You and I both have a lot in common with each. The
question is in what areas of your life are you more like
Above and in what areas of your life are you more like
Below?
The truth is every time something doesn't go right for us,
we go below the line. We Lay Blame, we Justify, and we even
Shame ourselves for allowing it to happen. What's important
is that we recognize when we are below the line. Why? When
we recognize ourselves Laying Blame, Justifying, or Shaming
ourselves, then we can ask ourselves different questions. We
can ask what role we played in our own demise. We can ask
what we have to learn, correct, or improve to avoid
experiencing this same problem over and over and over. When
we ask ourselves those questions, we tend to climb above the
line where we can take 100% ownership of our thoughts and
actions.
Personal responsibility is at the root of successful
teamwork. Why? In teams, the notion of maintaining control
is a fallacy. You can't tell me what to do and I can't tell
you what to do and each of our outcomes depends on the
others actions. That means if something in the team isn't
right (for me) and I notice it, then I'm the one that gets
to address it or ignore it -- and my performance and
eventual reward depends on it. Traditional
authority-thinking teaches us to easily ignore things that
"aren't our job" and we'll still get our paycheck.
And we think success in business is about gaining greater
and greater authority. Nope. Success in business and life is
about developing personal responsibility -- owning your
ability to choose your responses to situations that aren't
"right."
That's why people who come to my speeches and seminars, and
who read my book and articles want to know things like:
How do I get people on board?
How do I build a team?
How do I motivate peers?
How do I get people to do what I want them to do?
How do I deal with difficult people?
What do I do about freeloaders?
How do we deal with conflict on the team?
It's all TeamWisdom. It's all about learning, correcting and
improving when something's not going right for you in your
team.
Think about it. If you want a workplace of greater choice,
greater freedom and more power, do you think it comes from a
greater sense of controlling others or a greater ability to
respond successfully no matter what others do?
Get started with this week's 5-Minute Practice Tip.
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FREE! Introduce me to meeting planners and leadership
development managers. When they invite me to send them a
marketing kit full of testimonial letters that will make you
proud, I'll send you my book ($18.95) or the print version
of The Leader's Guide ($22.95). Just direct folks to the url
below and cc us at teamwisdom@partnerwerks.com.
http://www.partnerwerks.com/services_and_products/speaking.html
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4. 5-Minute Practice Tip
Whether a long-time reader of TeamWisdom Tips or not,
consider this: What would you do in a new team to ensure
that each person's actions and results were in the best
interest of the team and each other person? What would you
do if you discovered they were not?
I wish you a world of responsible and productive
relationships at work.
Faithfully,
Christopher
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"'Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done
When Sharing Responsibility' contains more practical
information and advice about the conditions under which we
humans optimize our work together than any other book you
are likely to have read"
~Terry O'Keefe, Executive Bookshelf
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576751554/partnerofficeont
For 35% off orders of 50+ books contact info@partnerwerks.com
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5. TeamWisdom Resources
"Developing Positive Values and Attitudes: A New Leadership
Paradigm" March 13 and 14, 2003 in Kingston, Jamaica. Hey
mon, my good friends who produce the newsletter Work Team
Coaching Bi-weekly are offerring an excellent
boondoggle--er, uh, working vacation--disguised as a
leadership development seminar. You got to go!
http://www.success-synergies.com/seminars.htm.
Being Powerful in Any Team, 13-15 May 2003
This high impact learning event contains the most important
information and skills I know, and I believe completely in
it. I won't waste your time...I guarantee it.
http://www.beingpowerful.com
Knowledge Team Effectiveness Profile (KTEP)
Team development budget too tight for seminars? Check out
KTEP, a tool that quantitatively measures your team's
effectiveness and shows areas for high-impact improvement.
Based on years of research and testing, KTEP is now
available in North America. Team assessments can be
performed for about $125/person - super affordable!
http://www.partnerwerks.com/ktep
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I will be traveling to and speaking...
- February 17-19, Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio,
TX (http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- March 11, Seminar, KPMG, Denver, CO
- May 5, PMI/NJ Chapter Regional Symposium, Edison, NJ
- May 13-15, Being Powerful In Any Team, San Antonio, TX
(http://www.beingpowerful.com)
- Knowledge Team Effectiveness Profiling Certification Workshop
http://www.partnerwerks.com/ktep
- May 22-23, 3rd. Conference on Work Teams, Centro de
Productividad, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico
Want me to speak at your company or association? See
http://www.partnerwerks.com/services_and_products/speaking.html
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6. Plain Wisdom
The following was sent to me by Art Jolly. It also hangs in
the office of a TeamWisdom master and my co-author on the
book we are working on about "owning it." I find it all over
the internet with no copyright information. However it
apparently appeared in "The Tibetan Book of Living and
Dying" by Sogyal Rinpoche. Thanks Art.
Autobiography in Five Chapters
by Portia Nelson
Chapter 1
I walk down the street. There is a large hole in the
sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn't my
fault. It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street. There is a large hole in the
sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't
believe I'm in the same place, but it isn't my fault. It
still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street. There is a large hole in the
sidewalk. I see it there. I still fall in. It's a habit. My
eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out
immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street. There is a large hole in the
sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
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Partnerwerks are trademarks of Partnerwerks, Inc. Please
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