The Hidden Problem with Interdependent Work (and How to Fix It)

One of the biggest challenges in organisations today is navigating hidden but misaligned priorities within interdependent teams, especially when the organisation faces uncertainty. These hidden, misaligned priorities can lead to collisions between even well-intentioned attempts at pursuing shared goals. Recently, I ran a tradeoffs workshop for a leadership team in a large global organisation that revealed just how powerful and effective it can be to address this head-on.

What is the tradeoffs workshop?

The tradeoffs workshop is a 2-day, highly collaborative, hands-on workshop that brings functional teams together to articulate not only their shared goals but also to discuss and come to agreement on a shared idea of acceptable tradeoffs — desirable outcomes that are sacrificeable — in pursuing those goals.

Here are some takeaways from the post-workshop debriefing:

? It was concrete, intuitively understandable, and immediately useable:

"It was quite exceptionally straightforward, concrete, and immediately applicable for a tool that was newly introduced to a team."

Unlike many traditional frameworks, the carefully sequenced tradeoffs discussion process was easy to understand and apply right away—even for teams new to the concept.

? It immediately unlocked difficult conversations:

"Understanding colleagues’ non-goals and negotiating shared goals in the context of that understanding made it possible to talk about contentious things which were previously too difficult (or impossible) to talk about collectively."

By surfacing underlying tensions and addressing them directly, the team could finally discuss issues that had been blocking progress which were previously too difficult to talk about.

? It will have a long-term impact on collaboration:

"Talking about tradeoffs helps people [in the leadership team] collaborate because it shows them how to proceed where there didn’t seem to be any viable path forward previously."

This wasn’t just about immediate problem-solving. During the workshop, participants independently realised that articulating and discussing tradeoffs is a valuable tool that would transform their annual and strategic planning processes.

?? Things to pay close attention to:

The debrief also highlighted valuable feedback on how to make future workshops even more impactful, including:

1. Ensuring that enough time is built into the workshop to fully develop and jointly plan action items that emerge from the process — participants said that at least 2 days were needed, and that up to a week could be useful.
2. Positioning the workshop as a skill-acquisition exercise from the start, and reminding participants to pay attention during the workshop in order to learn how to run the process themselves.

I’m excited to see the long-term impact of this approach on this leadership team’s collaboration and planning.

If you lead an organisation struggling with interdependent work, conflicting priorities, or uncertainty, let’s chat. This might be just what your team needs to move forward—together.

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