Teaming: Crossing Boundaries and Becoming Team Mates

August 5th, 2010. A massive collapse at the San Jose Copper Mine in Northern Chile has left 33 men trapped half a mile below some of the hardest rock in the world. Eventually, they will find their way to a small refuge designed for emergency purposes, where they will find enough food for two men for 10 days. ??

“Aboveground,” says business school professor Amy Edmondson, it doesn’t take long for the experts to figure out that there is no solution. There is no drilling technology in the industry that is capable of getting through rock that tough and that deep, fast enough to save their lives. It’s not exactly clear where the refuge is, and it’s not even clear who’s in charge.”

“Yet, within 70 days, all 33 of these men will be brought to the surface, alive. This remarkable story is a case study in the power of teaming.” Describes Edmondson. “So what exactly is teaming?” She asks. “It’s sort of like teamwork on the fly. It is coordinating and collaborating with people across boundaries of all kinds, from expertise, distance and even time zones, to get work done.”

Edmondson goes on to say that teaming is different from sports teams, as they win because they practise. “Teaming is kind of like a pick-up game in the park, in contrast to the formal, well-practised team.” She describes. In a match against each other, it’s clear that the practised team has an advantage and are more likely to win.

?“So why do I study teaming? Because it’s the way more and more of us have to work today.” Edmondson explains. “More and more of us have to work with different people all the time. Take hospitals, for example: They don’t have the luxury of fixed teams.”

“Patients are all different and unique, and the average hospitalized patient is seen by 60 or so caregivers throughout their stay, all coming from different shifts, different specialities, and areas of expertise.” Edmondson says. “But they have to coordinate in order for the patient to get great care.”

Of course, in teaming, the stakes aren’t always life or death. “Consider what it takes to make an animated film.” Edmondson goes on to explain how she visited Disney and researched over 900 artists, story borders, animators, and writers as they teamed up in constantly changing configurations to create amazing outcomes.

“Taking care of patients in an emergency room and designing an animated film are obviously very different kinds of work, yet beneath the differences, they have a lot in common.” She says. “You have to get different expertise at different times, and don’t have fixed roles or deliverables.”

In order to solve big problems, that are often complex and unpredictable, teaming is key. “The issues we face are so big and challenging that we cannot do it alone, so there is a certain humility and a recognition that we need to invite other people in.” Said Paul Polman, Unilever CEO. “When you look at any issue such as food or water scarcity it is very clear that no individual institution, government, or company can provide the solution.”

“Thus, we need to reach out across sectors for grand scale teaming.” Believes Edmondson. “But teaming across industry boundaries can be really hard, because there is a kind of professional culture clash.”

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In other words, of course software engineers and real estate developers think differently. They have different values, different time frames, different language and jargon. “They’re not always going to see eye to eye.” Explains Edmondson. So, this professional culture clash is a major barrier to building the future we hope for. And it becomes a problem we have to figure out how to crack.”

How can we ensure teaming goes well, especially teaming on larger scales? “In Chile, we witnessed 10 weeks of teaming by hundreds of individuals from different professions, companies, sectors, and even nations.” Says Edmondson. “As this process unfolded, they had lots of ideas and tried many things. They experienced devastating daily failure, but they picked up, persevered and continued forward.”

“We witnessed the ability to be humble in the faces of the challenges ahead. We witnessed curiosity about what others bring to the table, and the willingness to take risks in order to learn quickly”

17 days into the crisis, and ideas were coming from everywhere. Andre Sougarret, a mining engineer, was leading the rescue, all while ideas came from NASA, Chilean Special Forces, and from volunteers around the world.

“These people made slow, painful progress through the rock.” Edmondson describes. “On the 17th day, they broke through the refuge via just a small incision, and for the next 53 days, that narrow lifeline would be the path where food and medicine and communication would travel. Above ground, for 53 days, they continued teaming to find a way to create a much larger hole and design a capsule”

It was on the 69th day, over 22 painstaking hours, that they managed to pull the miners out one by one. “How did they overcome professional culture clash?” Asks Edmondson. “When teaming works, you can be sure that the leaders have been crystal clear that they don’t have the answers. Let’s call this situational humility.”

“This, combined with curiosity, creates a sense of psychological safety that allows you to take risks with strangers.” Explains Edmondson. “Because let’s face it, it’s hard to speak up, right? It is hard to ask for help, and it’s hard to offer an idea that might be a stupid idea.”

And so, Edmondson believes that they overcame what she refers to as the basic human challenge. “It’s hard to learn if you already know.” She says. “Unfortunately, we’re hardwired to think we know. So we have to remind ourselves to be curious about what others bring to the table, because that curiosity can also spawn a generosity of inspiration.”

However, Edmondson also notes another barrier. To illustrate it, she quotes a line from the movie The Paper Chase, in which a Harvard professor welcomes his new class. He says: “Look to your right, look to your left, one of you won’t be here next year.”

What message did the students of this class hear? It’s me or you. In other words, for me to succeed, you must fail. “Far too often people arrive with that message of scarcity.” Explains Edmondson. “But It is awfully hard to team if you inadvertently see each other as competitors”

To shift our mindset, Edmondson reminds us of something Abraham Lincoln once said: “I don’t like that man very much. I must get to know him better.”

?“Think about that! Edmondson exclaims. “I don’t like him, it means I don’t know him well enough, its extraordinary.” She remarks. “This is the mindset you need for effective teaming. Because when we step back and reach out and reach across, miracles can happen.” She says. “Miners can be rescued, patients can be saved, and beautiful films can be created”

To get there, Edmondson believes there’s no better advice than this: “Look to your left, look to your right. How quickly can you find and acknowledge the unique talents, skills and hopes of your neighbour, and how can you convey what you yourself bring?” ?

How can we take this idea of teaming on board in our work? What can we do to adopt this mindset, in which despite our differences, we all have valuable skills, stories and expertise?

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Written by Katie Wilson, EP Business in Hospitality