Performance Breakthrough

Tension:?23rd June 2023 - Biweekly newsletter

I was working with a senior leader in sport who replayed for me the negativity he was finding across his team of support experts.?He was finding more struggles and battles more often and deeply concerned with the impact this was having.

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There was clear tension in the room.?There are two parts to tension: there is visible tension and invisible tension.?And by the word tension I mean the difference between either a) where we are and where we are trying to go or b) what is happening compared to what we expect.

Tension.?And when the tension is locked into conflict tension it is unproductive tension.?The negativity begins to fertilise more negativity.?Conflict tension is a problem in sustained performance.?But is not the deepest problem, merely the problem that is visible and getting our attention. Leaders focused on conflict tension prioritise helping people agree and get along.?You will find more team building ideas and ‘away days’. And you will have experience with these interventions that often don’t get close the root cause.

I was involved many years ago in a large newly formed team that was not functioning well. Our CEO took us out for a team building afternoon at a forest obstacle course.?We had a great time, bonding, laughing and supporting.?We arrived back in the office and our leader got into a verbal fight with his VP.? We had just left the forest!? And the problem with unproductive tension is the attempts to solve it creates more unproductive tension.?

Every seed that grows must destroy the container it is in or there will be no growth. That is how tension can be seen.?It is pointing us to an opportunity for sustained performance.?Not just a fix.?Not just making a problem go away. A deep creative solution.?Letting the seed germinate.?Some bury it (make it go away) and high performers plant it!

The leader I referred to at the start learned to wait at this tension threshold for seconds to let the sense of urgency pass.? This is the conflict tension ‘seed’ breaking free from its container.?And new growth is in front of us.? This is the creative tension (productive, energised, forward facing) under the conflict (stuck, unproductive, backward facing).

Negativity is resistance.?Negative people in your group feel the negativity will help change the circumstance.?This is human nature.?And negativity continues and oscillates (goes away and returns).? You will recognise this.?But, the dragons protect the gold!?The real high performance opportunity is under the resistance and when we see this we open the seed.?This is the focus of sustained performers; they know how to break the cycle and release the seed.?

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This senior leader who recognised the tension is his team transformed them by recognising a misalignment of values. We aligned the team values which made the real tension visible.?This released the conflict and planted the seed.?Values alignment created a unity and impact that no adventure forest could create!? ?

Creative productive tension sits under every conflict.?

When we let our first thought pass (sort the conflict) and act on our second thought (reveal the creative tension) we are empowering and transforming the people and situation in front of us.?Sustained high performance.

Go well and go clear

Richard

For more….

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