Ugly delicious teamwork

Like great food, great teamwork isn't always pretty. Image: Tremolo Productions

There is a series on Netflix called Ugly Delicious. On the surface, it seems like a pretty simple premise - the host showcases food that tastes great despite looking unappealing. It feels like the antithesis to fine dining - where flavours are often subtle and the presentation is immaculate.

This perspective of the series got me thinking about applying this sort of thinking in our teams. Often, teams are seeking to deliver a fine dining experience for themselves and their stakeholders. Interactions that are refined, nuanced and highly sought after by those in the know. In the right setting, this makes sense and takes a specific approach to working together in the right context.

There's a time for fine dining. By its nature, fine dining is occasional, both in the sense that it's infrequent and it is generally associated with a special occasion. Fine dining is intentionally not everyday eating, but ugly delicious can be.

An ugly delicious approach is less about how the work is presented and more about whether it satisfies the needs of those involved. The primary concern is function - not fashion. The Netflix series does more than tolerate ugly delicious, it celebrates it. For our teams, finding ways to celebrate a focus on effective outcomes is a great approach.

An unexpected element (for me) of the Netflix series is that it includes a focus on mixing the food of different cultures. Respectfully combining ingredients, flavours and cooking methods that don't traditionally go together. This approach means that the dining is not being constrained by established processes and preference, it's building on them. This perspective of ugly delicious is at least equally useful for our teams in our work settings facing novel challenges - we open up possibilities and become more than the sum of our parts when we leverage and build on each others' capabilities, preferences and experience.

Our teams getting ugly delicious is another way that we can reduce the focus on impression management that holds so many of us back. We can let go of the idea that teamwork is always like the cheesy 90s posters and stock photos. If we accept that teamwork and its outputs often have an untidy element, we can spend more time focused on doing great work serving its purpose and less time on trying to project perfection.

Here are a couple of questions for you to consider this week:

1. Could your teams benefit from taking an "ugly delicious" approach more often?

2. What would be one step in the right direction for your team to focus more on effectiveness?