Embracing complexity in teams
Embracing complexity was the central theme of a 2019 academic paper reviewing the previous decade of team research. That paper looked at literally hundreds of studies either directly or through meta-analyses. The title gives a sense of the authors’ views on the importance of complexity in being able to truly appreciate teams in this decade – Embracing Complexity: Reviewing the Past Decade of Team Effectiveness Research.
It seems fair to say that we need to embrace complexity in order to see what is happening for our current teams and operate effectively within them. If we don’t, we are likely to:
• fail to see the potential influences and forces on our teams
• misinterpret situations as we look for a linear cause and effect relationship
• take overly simplistic reactive measures rather than considered responsive approaches to challenges in our teams.
But what does embracing complexity look like? What does it take for each of us to do this?
Often, it looks like questions more than answers. It looks like noticing patterns that emerge rather than jumping to conclusions with definitive statements.
The best principle that I can think of to sum this up is curiosity. Research cited in Harvard Business Review linked curiosity with a range of positive business outcomes, including team performance.
Curiosity also something that many teams lack - particularly under pressure. Under pressure, there is a tendency to be overconfident in our assumptions and previous experiences or latch on to overly simplistic stories. When things are moving fast and in complex ways, resisting the urge to assume that we have an answer is useful. As Dan Shapero, a Vice President at LinkedIn has been quoted as saying about curiosity:
"It is so valuable, when things are changing so quickly, to have people on your team who are trying every day to better understand the world around them."
Curiosity in teams allows us to notice things that we may not otherwise have seen. It allows us to run experiments - and be open to unexpected outcomes. As Jennifer Garvey Berger so eloquently states, "for all of us as leaders of our own lives as well as whatever else we might lead— is about watching, discerning, and making sense of what is emerging now. It’s about stepping out of our mindtraps and into a more open and curious way of interacting with the world."
There's a caveat. Just like Morpheus says in the Matrix, "there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path", leaders and teams are typically great at talking about valuing curiosity - and less great at fostering it. Most often, it's because being curious means being open to losing face (for asking a "dumb" question), slowing the team down or admitting that there are things that we don't know.
Some questions for you to consider this week:
How might you be more curious in your teams?
How might you support others to be more curious this?
What are the barriers to curiosity in your team?