It is People’s Problem and not a Technology Problem

There are so many articles written about the need for the most of the businesses to change drastically the way they do business due to many new and exponentially growing technologies enabling new innovation in products, services, systems, platforms and business models so this is taken for given. When 88 % of Fortune 500 companies in 1955 have been replaced by 2016 and with change accelerating the trend will continue even faster with more companies becoming irrelevant from the world scene of business.

The issue we face almost all over the world including Hong Kong where I live is that people think the issue of companies not being able to transform fast enough is mainly technological but the change can only happen when people become aware and understand the magnitude and nature of change. So it is first People’s issue. With the current speed of change and with huge new requirements of  digital transformation the only way to succeed is to involve actively people asap and adapt a culture of team spirit, curiosity and openness. So what can we do before we embark in the organizational transformation to create awareness, understanding, energize, motivate, boost team spirit and improve the performance & productivity of individuals and teams?

How to unlock your team’s highest potential

The most of the people on planet earth learn in school and in work environments to improve their weaknesses in order to succeed in life. In this way by focusing on weaknesses they weaken their strengths! The same applies to a TEAM of people that instead of the individuals to focus on their strengths they are asked to do tasks related to their weaknesses. What do you think is the impact of such practices in the Personal and Team Productivity?

“Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses” and Increase Trust, Flow, Productivity and Results.

Value & Trust, Leverage & Flow

The word Trust is related to Value delivery. The more you or a company delivers consistently Value (something that customers pay for) the more is trusted. Consequently Trust is a measure of Value. Think about a company like Apple. It delivers consistently Value and is trusted to the point that customers wait overnight in a queue to buy the new products.

Within the Talent Dynamics Square (see below), there are two opposites of how value is created (Innovation and Timing).

There are also two opposites of Leverage. Leverage is the driver of profitable growth, and comes from an understanding of how to always achieve more with less.

Within Talent Dynamics, growth is achieved through leverage, and leverage (Magnify or Multiply) is measured through Flow. Flow is the path of least resistance where we achieve amazing results when challenge and skills are in harmony.

There are 8 Talent Dynamics profiles and there are different areas in which we provide flow to others, and in which we are most in danger of blocking flow. For example, a Creator will add flow to the creative process, but is the most likely to cause a block in the flow of timely execution.

Too often, teams and companies have paths of flow to get things done that are far from optimal, as they navigate around individuals or even entire departments that others have found to block flow. With Talent Dynamics, these paths can be unblocked and realigned with radical changes in efficiencies, productivity and measurable growth in revenue and profit. People in Flow are 5X more productive!! 

Some of us act more through people and are more extrovert. For extroverts the natural way to leverage is to magnify. Some of us act more through data, and are more introvert. For introverts the natural way to leverage is to multiply.

The eight profiles fit around the square, each with a different balance of how they most naturally think and act. You will find that everyone has a profile and a natural path to success. People in Flow are 5X more productive.

So what are the applications of Trust and Flow in the work environment? 

We trust people, not rules or procedures and team members deliver the most value to the business when they feel trusted by their leaders to complete their tasks. It is leaders who energize people and create a culture of flexibility, openess, high performance through Trust and Empowerment.

What about Flow?  The most of us if not all have felt moments or periods of our working lives that we have experienced similar states like Flow where we enjoyed what we did, the time was going faster than normal and we produced excellent results. Other times we have not enjoyed what we did, time passed slowly and we felt stressed or unfulfilled. So what makes the difference?

Let’s first analyse what we need based on the above Trust and simplified Flowexplanations: If a person  or a Team has a challenge, is trusted, has the right skills and likes the challenge even if the challenge is big there will be tremendous motivation, competence and enjoyment to pursue the challenge and succeed.Talking about change and transformation of companies having highly competent and motivated teams will be key to succeed.

In other words when you are trusted, know what you are good at and what you love to do you can reorganize your time and activities to focus on what you love most and do best. You know also what to say No as well. When you do this, your fulfillment and effectiveness goes up, and your stress and struggle goes down. Of course many people will say but I cannot determine what I need to do at work and this is a valid argument why people do not reach flow.  How can we change that?

In fact the answer is simple: If the principles of Trust and Flow are applied to a number of individuals working together as a TEAM then we can reallocate the various activities to the right person and by supporting each other we can bring the whole Team in Flow. To do that we only need to know the individual profiles (strengths, challenges and best roles in a team context) of all the Team members. Additionally we need to consider the profile of the new generations of employees e.g Millennials that are becoming very important for corporations and they want:Autonomy, learning and training opportunities, participate in company results. 

Can you imagine if you could create Flow in the work place? The productivity and results will skyrocket.

Having high performing motivated teams that understand well the challenge is the key to transforming and scaling your business. Building or optimizing the right teams, with the right people in the right place begins by knowing yourself and then your team.

In fact achieving Flow on individual level it does not need to be 100% for all activities. Even if we achieve Flow 50-60 % of the time the productivity will skyrocket. Of course increasing the Flow is decreasing the stress and this generates not only great business results but also more healthy and satisfied individuals, fun in the working environment and a better society at large. With the massive changes on going in the 21st century where Labour, Information and Money are moving easily and fast having motivated individuals and high performing teams will be the most important competitive advantage to be able to transform fast and succeed in the 21st century. 

Mike Mastroyiannis is Business, Management & Executive Coach and Consultant for among others Exponentially Disruptive Innovations. He has served as CEO of business units in Multinationals, founded or lead start-ups and serves in advisory boards. He can be reached through LinkedIn or email at  mike@tenx2.com