“The secret of change is to focus all of your
energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
-
Socrates
I am sad thinking how fast these past eight weeks have flown
by. Although life as it would be has personally taken its toll on me while
enduring them, I have found such great solace and peace in our work together while
going through whatever comes my way. I just keep reminding myself that although
it may be exhausting, and often overwhelming, I know the work I do in this
program is SO worth it; I am not exactly even sure why when someone asks me…it’s
a feeling of destiny and a thirst for the acknowledge that unfolds every week,
in every chapter, in every assignment, and in every discussion.
By far, and without fail, I knew Mercury was in retrograde
this month without even looking it up. My exhausting days and many sleepless
nights were a sure sign of it…amongst everyone at work being entirely off their
rocker. But then I watched what I will lovingly refer to as the Marshmallow
Prophecy Tom Wujec – it is without a doubt what helped center me this week. I know…pasta
and marshmallows…an easy way to a carb-junkies heart! But none the less, this
little 6 minute or so video grounded me this morning when I watched it. I couldn’t
stop laughing for a minute…the simplicity in things…it is what I have been
craving all month, probably more so than pasta.
I remember reading a while ago that Steve Jobs once said that
“…simplicity can be harder than complex…” (Jobs) and it is so true. Take
our case study this week, for example. The amount of irrelevancy and length to
the email from Ryan back to John was a disgrace. When someone is looking to bounce
ideas off you, you have to listen to their ideas first, BEFORE RESPONDING!
Again, you can hear my work frustration keeping in theme with our module this
week; but it couldn’t be closer to the truth of my days…if people would “…stop,
collaborate, and listen...” (Van Winkle, 1991) …yes, I am a fan of
Vanilla Ice…but if we did stop and collaborate and listen more...life would
seemingly be so much simpler and more enjoyable for us all!
As we uncovered this week from our readings and discussions, as
our teams or groups begin to evolve, there are different roles and behaviors
that tend to emerge; each one serving a purpose to accomplish a particular task
or help the group grow and improve. For example, group task functions generally
serve the purpose of helping the group solve a problem or answer a question
(Brown, 2011, p. 201), whereas group maintenance functions serve to build
harmony, compromise, encouragement, empathy, and gate keeping (Brown, 2011, p.
202).
I think that is why, going back to Wujec’s example of the “Marshmallow
Problem” works; MBA students get in their mind that there is one leader and one
way of doing something…I should know, I did my BSBA at University of Florida
which were master’s level classes although I was an undergrad, and it does
condition you in a manner that you feel you have to be the one with the idea
and management to ensure success. Kids don’t know the complications of life and
aren’t necessarily fully engaged in legitimate competition with one another to
be the next CEO of Spaghetti, Inc. as Wujec points out in his discussion (Wujec, 2010) as most young and
ambitious recent college graduates are. We are hungry, we want to make our
mark, and often times, we want to make big money too.
But again, back to the importance of simplicity…kids don’t have
any preconceived notion on how it should work, they just try and try again in trying
to get it done…not necessarily getting it right. That is why I think they
performed better out of the gate; they don’t understand that failure in front
of others causes mental scarring for some of us; adults get so worried about
what others will think if we don’t do it right the first time, we forget the
importance of what failure can teach us…life lessons! And more importantly,
kids are able to work in groups most likely easier than adults because they see
each other as equals and not as someone threatening their abilities or goals. They
collaborate with kindness and ease, and as we grow older and become more set in
our ways, we forget that we have to work with others to make things work.
I also think that is why the admin assistant on the team of CEO’s is successful as well. Admin assistants are typically in the background…but people forget they are a pivotal part of the puzzle. Why? Because it is their job to learn the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the executives they support – SUPPORT, not challenge, not interfere, not prevent collaboration, but SUPPORT the people who support the work that needs to happen. It is not about their executive marshmallow being on top – it can’t be without the assistance of their entire spaghetti team supporting it. They are the tape, the string, the proverbial glue. It is how they are able to coordinate and instill collaboration amongst all of the spaghetti managers and other leaders that we are able to lift our executive marshmallows up and remain as a supporting structure to the entire strategy and team. Kids just know they have to get the marshmallow to the top and the spaghetti not break in order to do it through trial and error. MBA’s and the rest of us think that it is about completion and getting our marshmallow higher than any other team…we forget that the spaghetti is fragile and cannot do it alone – we need the tape and other resources that we are given to make it happen. Kids take what they are given and make the best of it…I need to remember that personally and professionally. Take the lemons, add ice and good tequila and focus on simplicity.
I would love to be able to integrate this video and lesson
into my job somehow…I am going to make it my mission to find a way to do it
with one of my weekly teams – they already know I am crazy, but this could be
an amazing tool to help guide their memory towards how it takes all of us
supporting and focusing on the marshmallow (in this case the same team goal) to
get our efforts moving in the right direction. We have to stop acting and
reacting in a vacuum, as our workflow affects all of us. I am very hopeful that
I soon find pockets of time to de-clutter and simplify my work so I can help
encourage others to do the same. I want to find a snappy intervention I could
use to get my team back on track and deescalate some of the stress and tension
we are all under…the Marshmallow Prophecy may just work!
Until we blog again…
References
Jobs, S. (n.d.). Simplicity Quotes. Retrieved
from brainyquote.com:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/simplicity.html
Van Winkle, R. (1991). Vanilla Ice. Retrieved
from IMDB.com: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0406678/bio
Wujec, T. (2010, February). Build a tower, build a
team. Retrieved from TED.com:
http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower
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