It Began With A Choice… The Origins of HPT
“There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem.” Eldridge Cleaver
My journey understanding High Performance Teams began many years ago initially on the ‘dark side of the force’ so to speak... After I finished my post-grad studies and qualified as a psychologist I spent the first few years of my career investigating workplaces where an employee had lodged a worker's compensation claim for work-related stress otherwise known as a 'psychological injury'. As part of the claim investigation process I would interview their colleagues and managers as well as review their work systems and procedures.
The Dark Side of The Force: Workplace Stress Claims...
In most cases the staff I interviewed were highly distressed and angry towards their managers, and teams were divided into cliques or silos, often at war with each other. Managers were usually exhausted, stressed, frustrated, and felt like they too were victims in the situation— complaining of inadequate resources and a lack of support and clear direction from their senior managers as circumstances spiralled out of control.
The cost of these claims was enormous. Workplace productivity ground to a halt while investigations took place, costing tens of thousands of dollars—not to mention the longstanding lowered productivity prior to the actual workplace injury. Absenteeism and sick leave sky-rocketed as people looked for any excuse to avoid working in a toxic culture. Unwanted turnover was a crushing blow for management as many of the brightest and best staff gave up hope and were quickly hired by competitors eager for their skills.
But the biggest losses were in customer service and innovation. Because staff and managers became so consumed by lengthy investigations and legal proceedings they were unable to stay focused on innovating products and services in the business or providing outstanding customer service. As a result their customer base gradually winnowed away to nothing.
When all these costs were added together, the damage done to the organisation could, at times, easily surpass a million dollars. This was indeed a high price and many small to medium size businesses were unable to recover and were forced to shut down. After doing literally hundreds of these investigations I came to realise that there were two re-occurring themes in every case regardless of the worker demographics or type of industry.
These two themes were:
- Problems with Team Engagement—an inability for staff to feel like they belonged to their team or organisation, caused by:
- 1a. Inadequate feedback and trust among staff and their managers to be able to leverage individual differences instead of causing personality clashes;
- 1b. A lack of awareness and support of each other’s work/life needs and wellbeing amplifying personal stress levels in the workplace.
2. Problems with Team Achievement—an inability for staff to obtain business results, caused by:
- 2a. A lack of clarity about the link between their work role and the mission and goals of the organisation;
- 2b. A lack of regular transparent information and feedback about individual and team performance enabling self-driven accountability instead of haphazard, vague, and often ill-timed criticisms by managers.
Prevention Is Better Than Cure: The Choice To Find The Light…
Anyone who spends a lot of time dealing with unhappy people will tell you how demoralising and draining it can be. After several years in this line of work I was burned out and longing to spend more of my time working with positive and happy people. I remember one particularly difficult workplace investigation in a prestigious law firm where we had identified some very inappropriate behaviour among staff and managers who had bullied a co-worker who subsequently suffered stress and depression.
As I was finishing a very difficult interview with the Director of Human Resources she lost her temper:
“I feel very frustrated and angry about this investigation interview—you have only asked me questions about specific incidents and are not taking into account how much effort we are all putting in to making positive changes in this workplace. If you really cared about people maybe you should stop spending all you time over-analysing the problems and start helping organisations like ours find the solutions!”
Ouch! This blunt critique drove a splinter into my mind which has remained ever since. The challenge to make a choice to shift my focus from analysing dysfunctional workplaces to proactively building high performance workplaces was a catalyst for massive change in my own career. More than a decade has passed since that fateful conversation which led to my career focus shifting toward team transformation – helping individuals and teams identify and resolve the barriers and obstacles they faced, and strive towards higher levels of achievement and engagement, ultimately leading to sustainable levels of higher performance.
The High Performance Teams Framework
Through much research and practice, trial and error, writing and revisions, the High Performance Teams Framework emerged as a simple and powerful way to conceptualise the importance of both Achievement and Engagement – not merely to prevent stress claims and organisational failures but to shed light on the recipe for greatness! Teams that are truly great can Fit In together evidenced by their high levels of Engagement AND also Stand Out together as High Achievers – delivering extraordinary results.
As you can see in the diagram above there are two distinct factors which define high performing teams, Achievement and Engagement, and beneath these, the four KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) needed for success.
Achievement is the ability to consistently meet and exceed organisational performance targets. As you can see their are two KPIs needed to maximise Team Achievement: (1) clear vision, strategy, and actions and (2) a culture of performance reporting.
Engagement is the ability to generate positive team dynamics to create long-term working relationships and enable innovation based on cumulative knowledge. Within the factor of Engagement we find the remaining KPIs of (3) leveraging diversity and (4) supporting wellbeing and work/life needs.
Fitting In or Standing Out? The Genius of ‘AND’
Importantly, High Performance Teams are able to Fit In AND Stand Out as opposed to merely one OR the other. A focus on only Achievement (Standing Out) OR Engagement (Fitting In) will not create sustainable High Performance Teams. Where only one of these success factors are evident, team performance is not sustainable. In the case of only high Achievement, the failure to also maintain high Engagement results in unhealthy competition, isolation, marginalisation, bullying, stress, and unwanted turnover. In the case of only high Engagement, the enjoyment of a highly supportive and cohesive team is short lived when failure to achieve destroys the underlying organisation that enabled the team to exist in the first place. Business guru, Jim Collins describes this all too common single-minded focus as ‘The Tyranny of OR’.
The solution therefore is not to focus on ‘OR’, and the choice between Achievement OR Engagement but rather to embrace the antidote to the problem which Collins refers to as the ‘Genius of ‘AND’’. That is to let go of the rational and simplistic view that you can only focus on either Achievement OR Engagement and instead embrace the view that Achievement AND Engagement can both co-exist as equally important forces guiding the success of High Performance Teams.
Making A Personal Choice Everyday...
There has been so much water under the bridge since my early days investigating Workplace Stress Claims and many years have passed since the HPT Framework was first published. I am so glad that I was personally challenged by that HR Director so many years ago to become a part of the solution. To build High Performance Teams and workplaces that make such a positive difference in the world.
Over the years many thousands of people have been positively impacted by HPT and have embraced the AND thus letting go of the OR – enjoying workplaces where they get to Fit In AND Stand Out. However, despite the big successes that have occurred in the lives of so many people – it is not a ‘one time only fix’ that lasts forever – it still boils down to a personal choice that you and I must make everyday. A choice to make the time to both (a) reflect upon my team’s purpose, vision and goals to identify ways to improve and achieve more; as well as (b) consider how I can engage more effectively to leveraging the diversity within my team and support each other in the challenges of our work and life. I find that when I embrace this daily discipline of reflection and consideration my personal effectiveness is much greater as is the satisfaction I feel in adding much more value to my colleagues and clients.
How does your organisation view teamwork and performance – do they recognise the importance of both Achievement AND Engagement or is it more of a one-sided point of view? Are you currently a part of a High Performance Team? If not, is now the time to start the conversation with your team?
What about on a personal level? Do you embrace the ‘genius of AND’ – making the choice every day to reflect on how you can both (a) improve your team’s ability to achieve key goals as well as (b) consider how you can engage even more effectively with your peers? Set aside some time now to reflect on how you can grow support your team more and commit to taking some practical next steps.... Venturus Est Optimus!
Dr Pete Stebbins PhD
Dr Pete Stebbins, PhD, is a workplace psychologist, executive coach & author of the recently released book: "Level Up! Building The Highest Performance Teams". Pete has many years of research and professional practice behind him working extensively in education and health. Pete is the director of the High Performance Schools Program working with a large number of schools to maximise staff and student outcomes.