●High-Performance Teams : 피그미족의 교훈

High-Performance Teams : 피그미족의 교훈

High-Performance Teams : Lessons from the Pygmies 

MANFRED F.R. KETS De VRIES

피그미족에서와 같이, 독재적인(authoritarian) 것이 아닌, 권위가 있는(authoritative)팀 기반의 협동문화가 살아남을 것이다.

Like the pygmies, team-based corporate cultures with authoritative, not authoritarian leadership, will thrive.

PYGMY SOCIETY AS SEVEN LESSONS FOR EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK

Lesson 1: Members respect and trust each other. 상호 존중과 신뢰. 

신뢰는 자연적으로 생겨나는 것이 아니다.

Trust does not occur instantaneously, however. It is like a delicate flower that takes time to blossom. Trust grows best if the basics were met for each team member in childhood- if a trusting attitude developed as one of the anchors of each individual’s personality. Trust can also be nurtured in a corporation. Leaders who “walk the talk” and do not kill the messenger of bad news exhibit behavior patterns conducive to a culture of trust.

Lesson 2: Members protect and support each other. 상호 보호와 지지. 

갈등의 상황을 협력의 상황으로 만들기.

This incident illustrates an important factor in effective work teams. Conflict is inevitable; indeed, it is part of the human condition. But while that may be the case, when push comes to shove in an organization, each team member must be willing to support, protect, and defend the others. In effective teams, members go to great lengths to sort out differences between themselves while maintaining individual self-respect. Whenever possible, what can be interpreted as conflictual will be reframed as collaborative. It is part of the mind-set of team members that they all have a stake in a constructive outcome. Such an attitude of mutual support and protectiveness provides the glue that makes for teamwork and helps a team survive when times are tough.

Lesson 3: Members engage in open dialogue and communication. 열린 대화와 의사소통

조용한 피그미 캠프는 문제가 있는 캠프이다.

What we might call “emotional management" also plays an important role in conflict resolution. Pygmies are not at all self-conscious about showing emotions. Their willingness to express emotions makes conflict resolution much easier. In fact, a silent pygmy camp is a camp that has problems. As pygmy interaction patterns illustrate, it is better to err in the direction of “noise.” Furthermore, a willingness to show emotions by all members of the team helps reduce defensiveness and leads to more honest communication.

When there are pressing issues on the table, it helps to talk about them; open dialogue and communication are important ingredients in making teams work. As can be observed in the pygmy community, effective teams share their ideas freely and enthusiastically; team members feel comfortable expressing opinions both for and against any position. Teams that meet these criteria are the ideal vehicles for creative problem solving.

Frankness and candidness are also key to team effectiveness. Shared, open, honest, and accurate information is the norm in well-functioning teams. Critical reviews are viewed as opportunities to learn and do not result in defensive reactions. Moreover, team participants learn to minimize ego damage by focusing critical comments on ideas, not people. Furthermore, members of high-performance teams avoid disruptive behavior, such as side conversations or inside jokes, as much as possible.

Lesson 4: Members share a strong common goal. 공동으로 공유하는 목표

목표가 분명히 설명되어야 한다. 동시에 구성원들에게 여유 공간을 주어야 한다.

In organizations, as in pygmy society, teamwork is ineffective without mutually agreed upon goals. To give team members a sense of purpose and focus, team goals and methodologies need to be articulated clearly. If a goal is ambiguous or ill-defined, the group will lack motivation and commitment. Although goals have to be within realistic boundaries, organizations should also encourage team members to “stretch.” When met, stretch goals give a sense of pride; their execution creates a sense of achievement among the members of the team.

In conjunction with a clear sense of purpose, certain mutually agreed upon qualitative and quantitative targets need to be expressed. Such targets help team members determine the degree of their success in pursuing their given tasks. These targets serve as a road map, creating order out of chaos and generating excitement about future direction.

Lesson 5: Members have strong shared values and beliefs. 공동의 가치와 신념

핵심 가치와 신념, 구성원이 지녀야 할 적절한 행동과 자세을 정확히 설명해야 한다. 또한 이것은 집단의 핵심 가치로서 내재될 수 있어야 한다.

Although this may seem a rather farfetched example, it does illustrate the application of norms of social behavior. In this instance, we can see how one norm supersedes the other; how everyone buys into what is viewed as suitable behavior. The lesson that can be learned from this relatively primitive society is that any organization or smaller work team needs to articulate its core values and beliefs and define appropriate attitudes and behavior for its members. The dos and don’ts of social behavior need to be first clarified and then reinforced through stories and traditions; the latter in turn reinforce the group’s identity. A specialized language may further add to the bonding of the group. To strengthen this bonding process, successful organizations make a great effort to select employees who are likely to subscribe to the core values of the organization. Furthermore, these organizations go to great lengths to socialize their new members, helping them internalize the group’s core values and beliefs. Finally, these organizations clearly articulate sanctions for transgressions of the shared values and beliefs. 

Lesson 6: Members subordinate their own objectives to those of the team. 개인의 목표보다 팀의 목표를 우선한다

개개의 구성원은 자신의 자유가 제한될 수 있다는 것을 알아야 한다.

Teamwork is an interesting balancing act. A form of participation that can flourish only in an atmosphere that encourages individual freedom and creative opportunity under the umbrella of overall organizational goals, teamwork represents an interdependent balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the organization. To make such a balance work, however, each member of the team needs to recognize the limitations on his or her freedom.

Lesson 7: Members subscribe to “distributed” leadership. "분배된" 리더십을 인정한다.

또한 리더는 구성원에게 리더의 위치에 맞는 행동을 해야 한다.

Pygmies are strong believers in the concept of “distributed” leadership. As mentioned earlier, pygmy society is characterized by a disarming informality. Among the pygmies, it is difficult to talk about a single leader. Unlike other African societies, pygmy groups have no “big men” among them; leadership is not the monopoly of one glorious leader. There is no person that has ultimate authority. With no real chiefs or formal councils, their behavior is extremely egalitarian and participatory. The pygmies are probably as egalitarian as human societies can get. Among the pygmies it is considered bad taste to draw attention to one’s activities. Many subtle means are used to prevent this from happening. Bragging about one’s abilities is an invitation to become the butt of rough jokes, a very effective leveling device.

Look behind the scenes at a high-performance organization, and you will find a similar attitude toward leadership. Among the practices successful team leaders use to encourage full participation is a willingness to share goals with the other members of the team. Effective team leaders avoid secrecy of any kind at all costs. They treat members of the team with respect, listen to feedback and ask questions, address problems, and display tolerance and flexibility. They offer guidance and structure, facilitating task accomplishment, and they provide a focus for action. They encourage dialogue and interaction among the participants, balancing appropriate levels of participation to ensure that all points of view are explored (and withholding their own point of view initially to prevent the possible swaying of opinion). They capitalize on the differences among group members when those differences can further the common good of the group. They give praise and recognition for individual and group efforts, and they celebrate successes. They accept ownership for the decisions of the team and keep their focus sharp through follow-up. By acting in these ways, they create an atmosphere of growth and learning. In the process, they encourage group members to evaluate their own progress and development.

닫힌 시스템 vs 열린 시스템

CLOSED VERSUS OPEN SYSTEMS : 생존을 위해서는 안을 들여다보면서 밖을 내다볼 수 있어야 한다.

Thus, as a final lesson from the pygmies, we learn that survival requires not only an inward but also an outward focus; changes in the external environment have to be accounted for. Boundary management is important; building bridges with key outside stakeholders becomes an essential task. Members of effective teams recognize the need for external relations. In the case of the pygmies, not be possible. Conforming to the larger society would require a complete reinvention, a draconian transformation of their culture that would mean the end of the world as they know it.

The world of business organizations is not as closed a system as that of the pygmies. There are many other differences as well, but still the parallels are striking. Like the pygmies, business organizations have no choice but to look beyond their boundaries; they have to look out for emerging discontinuities to ensure at least a chance at survival and success. If they do not look beyond their borders in this fast-moving, competitive, and globally interdependent world, they too will face dire consequences: an inexorable winding down of their life cycle, culminating in death.

One way of managing for continuity, one way of creating companies that last, is through teamwork. Companies that gain the tools of effective teamwork have a distinct competitive advantage, a leg up toward organizational success. To master those tools takes considerable psychological work, however. 

The French statesman and novelist Francois-Rene Chateaubriand once said, “One does not learn how to die by killing others.”(사람은 다른 사람을 죽임으로써 어떻게 죽는지를 배우지 않는다.) The pygmies have taken this statement to heart. They know how to take care of each other. Members of teams in our postindustrial society would do well to gain that same knowledge.

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High Performance Teams: Lessons from the Pygmies

By Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries

Organizational Dynamics, 1999, #27 (3), pp. 66-77

The objective of this article is to describe the best practices for effective work teams. Taking the way of relating among the pygmies of the African rain forest as a metaphor for effective group work–as the pygmies hunting-gathering society represents a microcosm of key survival practices of teams operating under very harsh conditions–this article offers a number of lessons for creating successful work teams.

From observing the pygmies we learn that in high performance teams, members respect and trust each other; they provide mutual protection and support; they engage in open dialogue and communication; they share common goals; they possess strongly shared values and beliefs; they subordinate their own objectives to those of the team; and they subscribe to distributed leadership, in other words leadership that is not confined to a few people at the summit of the organization but distributed throughout.

This article also pays attention to a number of factors that destroy teamwork. Among the team killers are not only overt but also covert conflict, power hoarding, the impact of status differences, self-censorship, and the effects of groupthink. Groupthink refers to the pressure to conform to the opinion of others without questioning the consequences of such decisions.