#179: The hole team building exercise

Advertising creative Norman Berry once explained that people don’t want a drill bit. They want a hole.

Remember this when you plan your next team building exercise. Then you will have a specific purpose in mind before you even think about whether your team needs sharpening.

It’s easy to be trapped into sharpening without thinking. Here’s why. The most visible result of poor team work is often inefficiency, whether in the form of wasted resources, wasted time or wasted effort. This is why we unthinkingly tackle team work from an efficiency perspective and end up trying to fix symptoms instead of causes.

Instead, look to the desired outcome of working together. A focus on expected results tends to uncover underlying causes, such as inappropriate systems, procedures or management style.

Poor team work is a symptom, not a cause. Team work is the drill bit – don’t focus on it. Focus on the outcome you want.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
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