Make your own bed

The story of "The Bed of Procrustes" is an ancient Greek myth about a bandit named Procrustes. He would invite travellers to stay overnight in his house and lie in his bed. If a traveller were too short for the bed, Procrustes would stretch the traveller to fit it. If the traveller were too tall, he would amputate the excess length.

I imagine the bed was quite versatile since Procrustes wanted to make sure the bed would fit no one. This means he would be able to change the size according to the dimensions of the traveller.

So, in a way, he had everything in place to ensure everyone had a good night's sleep. All he had to do was change the size of the bed instead of the size of the traveller.

As every traveller is unique, so is every team, with unique needs, goals and constraints.

When helping teams, do not try to mould and shape the team to fit your "bed". Do not try to change the team so that they will fit in with your method, framework or "best practice".

Provide the team with their first (flat pack ;-) ) bed with the instructions. Encourage them to change the bed and make it their own. What improves a good night's sleep, and what makes it worse?

Or meet the team where they are now, and help them find out how they can change their existing bed. What is stopping them from getting the right amount of teddy bears?

If they must lie in it, let them make their own bed!