Leadership and Common Sense

I used to work for a large, successful global corporate, deemed as one of the best workplaces. Within that corporate, I participated in an executive programme ("Regional Management Development Programme"), delivered by a top-ranked global business school. Great professors, team, facility and program. Then we had a team exercise that keeps stunning me to this day.

Puzzling Blind Spot of Capable Individuals

We participants formed six teams, each consisting of five to six members. Within each team, we had to agree on assigning three roles - one or two persons as top manager(s), one as a middle manager and three as delivery team members. Then, all top manager(s) got the same task brief in form of a single A4 written notice. We all got the following rules:

1. The top manager(s) will remain in an indoor desk ("The Office" - one per each team), with good distance between teams, so the teams acted independently;
2. Top manager(s) can directly communicate only with their middle manager, who was initially placed in the Office and had subsequently to deal with their delivery team;
3. Delivery team (of which I was one member) was guided to an outdoor place, about 30 m away from the Office. We were to remain at that place during the whole task.
4. We were informed of the task start, which lasted for 15 minutes sharp and then stopped. All teams started and stopped at the same time.
5. After the task, all teams gathered in for results announcement and collective debrief.

One task coordinator was assigned per each team; ours guided three of us outside and placed each one of us on three different cells of a square surface, which looked like a big 8 x 8 chessboard (approx. 4 x 4 meters in size). Each coordinator was also a referee for the task, with oversight of teams' moves and behaviour, the rules of the task. As we arrived, there were three other unknown persons awaiting on the opposite side of the board. We tried to talk to them, but they completely ignored us (did not even reply to our hello), for the time being. I noticed that we were placed centrally symmetrically to the opposing team, i.e.:

Soon, the coordinator / referee informed us that the task had started. One of the opponents made a move on the chessboard. Shortly after, our middle manager came from the Office, running, holding a piece of paper and looking at us, then the board, visibly stressed out. Three of us asked, "What is the purpose of the task? What is going on? What are we supposed to do?” He replied, "Wait!" and went back to the Office, running.

After a minute or two, he is back, and issues an order to my fellow teammate: "Go there!” pointing at a specific chessboard square. The teammate moved, and we all asked again, "What are we supposed to do?” Our middle manager ran again back to the Office and an opponent's team member made another move...

At this point I thought, "Damn that task. I can't see why I am here at all.” At each round, our middle manager came breathless and increasingly confused. Pointing us to move here and there, it would have been easier for all if he had three stones instead of us; at least those stones would not harass him with all the questions, refusing to cooperate. As we made each move, the opponents responded almost instantly, without hesitation. At one move, an opponent kicked one of us out the chessboard (as confirmed by the referee).

Hyper-frustrated, somehow we dragged to the task’s end.

The Task Outcome

Gathering at the amphitheatre, we were debriefed as follows – “Guys, only one of the six teams managed to successfully accomplish the task.” The task was then clearly explained to everybody, “You were on a chessboard, and each one of you were representing a chess figure of knight. Your opponents – the same. The target – reach the opponent’s baseline, as many of you as possible, before your opponents, which are trying to do the same.”

For non-chess players, figure of knight moves two squares in one direction and then one square left or right (of course, the knight has to remain within the chessboard). Example of eight valid moves for a figure of knight in the middle of a chessboard:

In case the move gets any knight at opponent’s square, that opponent’s figure gets eaten - it is out of the play - same rule applies for chess. The winning team is the one with better result at the end of play.

The Winning Team's Strategy and Its Implementation

The one-and-only team that achieved the goal did the following:

1. Top managers and middle manager read together the task sheet. It took them about two minutes to do so.

2. Middle manager and asked the permission to take that same sheet to delivery team and instruct them equally. Top managers agreed.

3. Middle manager walked out with the task sheet, read it clearly to the delivery team – the board, the objective, the rules of engagement. After a few questions and clarifications, the delivery team confirmed their understanding and were free to go. This step took another four minutes, together with Office-to-board walk of the middle manager.

4. The delivery team, between three of them, coordinated all the moves and responded to opponents, getting two out of the three of them to the finish line, beating the opponents. That was done in another five or six minutes.

Plain and simple, the most obvious solution, the laziest possible solution – which turned to be the best one, too. I kept reflecting on that task later on, when watching with my kids one of our favourite animated cartoon series, Minuscule - specifically the lazy bee episode (lasts for six minutes).

My Takeaway

That management team, all of us, were at the heart of some serious duties within one of the most successful corporations. Capable, hard-working people, yet such a poor performance for a simple task. I could not reconcile that for a long while. A thought emerged – if that happens to selected team within one of the best organisations, it must be happening elsewhere, too. I am certain it does. With all the noise of the fast-moving world, some solutions are here, obvious and within simple reach - however, not applied. 

I know this will work – trust your team and make real use of their wits. That will improve overall motivation, performance and satisfaction. No need to create and advertise complicated actions - many times the lazy bee strategy produces far better results. Now, that requires a haircut of out ego - it is not about staging a theatre show, it is about getting the job done in the best reasonable way.