Teamership: Connected

Television now produces more content than any one of us can consume. With that, there is a lot of pretty mediocre (or worse) shows and a few great ones. This week, I’d like to share with you a series from Netflix that I found entertaining and informative in its own right as well as containing some principles that are valuable for each of us trying to support team performance as team members or leaders.

The show is Connected (I might write about Is it Cake? another time!).

Connected is a short series of episodes that describes itself as exploring…”the surprising and intricate ways in which we are connected to each other, the world and the universe.” Each episode explores a different way in which the world is connected. There are episodes on dust (my favourite), poop (my daughter’s favourite), numbers and nukes.

My favourite episode on dust explains how dust from the Sahara desert in Africa provides nutrients for the Amazon rainforest in South America and impacts the strength and frequency of hurricanes in North America. There are more connections, but you get the point.

The relevance for us as members of multiple teams is both simple and profound.

The simple relevance is that connections matter. Without connections, there can be no teams and therefore, our ability to establish, maintain and strengthen connections is a key capability of being a great team member.

The more profound implication is that we can’t always know the impact of our connections within and beyond our team or even beyond our organisation. As the summary of the series describes, the world is often connected in surprising and intricate ways. For that reason, it’s worth spending time to notice patterns of connection that are present (or absent) in and beyond your teams.

As I mentioned, I’ll be exploring connections more in the weeks ahead. Here are some questions for you to consider this week:

1. What are some surprising and interesting ways you are connected across teams?
2. How might you recognise some hidden patterns of connection?
3. Are there ways in which you help your teams to be connected?

Go well,

Keegan

As I’m working with teams and leaders, there is an increasing desire to be connected. The past few years have made it challenging to do that and there is a growing awareness of the value that being connected offers us as individuals, teams and organisations.

If your leadership team would benefit from being more connected, get in touch (just reply to this email) and we can explore how I’m helping teams to be more connected…

• Connected to the purpose, strategy and vision
• Connected to each other
• Connected throughout and beyond the organisation