The Power of Pivot in Fragmented Teams

I was inspired when listening to Thomas Richardson on Insight Timer. He talked about "Beyond Polarizing Forces: The Dynamic Tension Of The Pivot." The pivot is that moment of balance between opposites.

When a COO or an HR Director contacts me to coach a fragmented team, I hear the concern of someone facing an insurmountable problem. More often than not, they describe a team divided by disagreement, opposite factions or groups, each driven by essential values, like taking risks vs. following processes, innovating vs. building structures, or following orders vs. taking the lead. The team is fragmented between the different forces, each fighting to convince the others of their perspective as being the one to lead to success. It is a conflict, a problem to solve. Each force is wrong.

The Power of Fragmentation

In essence, an efficient team is fragmented. The more diversity of roles, skills, perspectives, or backgrounds, the better the team can adapt, create, innovate, and stay relevant. Diversity can lead to a divergence of views and, when left unattended, to conflict. Each perspective wants to advocate for their values casting out what is different as a natural drive to self-preservation. In truth, the team needs all the views or values to be effective over time. It is never a problem to solve, just a pivot to find.

As a team collaboration catalyst, I see conflict and fragmentation as a powerful drive for greatness that needs to be catalyzed. Fragmentation is the tension between opposites that leads to peak performance, innovation, creativity, and adaptation. There is room for action, development, new insight, or initiatives in the gap between the different perspectives. Like when you exit traffic to embark on a side, open road. You still drive towards your destination; you only take another direction.

With enough differences within a system, like a fragmented team, movement emerges due to the tension between the various forces. Conversely, the team is stuck when there are too many similarities. When everyone thinks and acts alike, routine takes over, leading to monotony. In a fast-paced, complex world, monotony is kryptonite.

The Power of Pivot

Instead of taking sides, I first reassure the COO or the HR director of the value of fragmented teams. Then I explain collective intelligence, a system's capacity to self-organize and utilize the tensions as a force for adaptation and change. What they are facing is not a problem to solve but rather a pivot to find.

A pivot is a transformational way that comprises a piece of each opposite force to create a third option. You can catalyze pivot by helping the team connect to the system's wisdom, that third entity that holds the team together (its unique personality if you want), and by leveraging polarities like Barry Johnson presents in his book And: Making A Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma.

In fragmented teams, the power of pivot appears when you remind them of their overarching mission and goals. By doing so, individuals can reconnect to the shared purpose and move past the need to force their position onto others. As a coach, I find that moment magical. It is not always a streamlined process; it sometimes requires the need to vent, push back, or disagree. Once all voices are heard, a connexion happens, the pivot appears, and balance synchronizes the differences to create a driving force.

The Role of A Team Collaboration Catalyst

As a coach, my role is to build a safe space where everyone on the team can openly share their opinion. As a voice of the system, each team member is partially right. They hold a sacred, albeit partial, piece of truth that composes the team's identity and capacity to perform. The purpose is not to create harmony, which can be counterintuitive and much more comfortable. It is to hear and connect each team's element.

A team collaboration catalyst can push, challenge, disrupt, support, and appreciate all at once. I often find that silence is the most potent tool in my toolkit. When there is safety, people will tend to fill the space with reflection, contribution, or attack. They are helpful as they create tension, a new direction, and a force to pull everyone toward what the team needs. When that happens, the team starts to operate as one entity, finding creative ways to collaborate and reach the desired outcome.

Stir the pot when stuck, stay silent or still when there are turbulences, and efficiency will emerge. The skill is to listen carefully to what the team needs from moment to moment. It is the most exciting process I know. Once the team reconnects to its natural intelligence and drive to find solutions, you feel it in the room; positive energy flows as a sheer will to move to action.

If you recognize your team as fragmented, it is positive. All you need is someone to help recreate the safe space and explore the situation to facilitate connection, disagreement, and motivation. Everything is there; sometimes, it is trapped in silos. Please feel free to contact me to learn more.

Sara Bigwood - Team Collaboration Catalyst