Avoiding Mediocre Excellence

I’m sitting here in a dark corner of Starbucks recharging with some alone time after a very exhaustive and fulfilling week of serving with my team at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. I wish I could accurately express how humbled I am to be involved with such an awesome group of folks who always find ways of challenging me to continually grow as a follower, servant and leader. My mind can’t keep from going back to the event and how proud I am of the team for the people we touched, Polaroids we took, and even moments of conflict we had.

Conflict within our team isn’t something I would have bragging about six months ago, but our Marketing Director recently took us through The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Over the last couple months, I’ve really come to believe healthy conflict is an essential part of growing stronger as a team. In fact, the only alternative is everyone pretending to be on board with the ideas and actions of their team members while spitefully or indifferently keeping opinions to themselves. That’s a recipe for mediocre excellence; where, even if the end results appear exceptional, the half-hearted spirit which produced the work eventually demoralizes the entire team and leads to frustration, discontentment and burn out.

Has our team perfected the art of conflict? Nope. I will be the first to admit there are still moments of hurt feelings, snappy comments and unfair judgements. But we have all made the commitment to believe the best about one another and engage in conflict with a spirit of vulnerability and humility. Therefore, we are all much quicker in coming back to center, resolving disagreements, and minimizing negative repercussions. The result? The strongest, most creative and empowered team have ever worked with. Here are our “Rules of Engagement:”

Remind ourselves that it’s not personal; it’s a process.
Clarify goals early and often to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Share views and ideas early in the process.
Trust the “ref” to make the call and MOVE ON.

If you find yourself holding back on conversation or confrontation with particular members of your team, I’d challenge you to ask yourself if it’s fear of conflict with them. If so, make it a point to read The Five Dysfunctions and see if you cant get your leader to take your entire team through the exercises in the book. Yes, there will be awkward moments and uncomfortable conversations; but I promise it will be worth it as every member starts believing the best about one another and moving closer to being one in heart and mind.