Lone Wolves Help Keep Highly Functional Teams On Track
I was first fired from a job — any job that I ever had — at the age of 35. I had just joined one of Denver’s top creative agencies six weeks earlier, and there was zero indication from my boss that we were off course. So, I was shocked and dismayed, to put it mildly. I asked why. The Sage said, “Because you’re contentious.”
The act of “contending” was the root cause of my dismissal. This history has played out several times since. Some call it trauma that that has yet to be cleansed. Some call it other things with less clinical sounding names. I call it an absurd misunderstanding.
I came to the job of copywriter fully believing that putting my best ideas forward and having them weighed against those of my peers was the heart and soul of contention. Your ideas versus mine. May the best brand-building ideas win.
Oh, how wrong I was, then and now.
Sure, I was right on paper. But I was wrong in real life. In real life, bosses want their asses shined with spit. In real life, people who don’t abide by obviously broken structures, or automatically bow to authority, or listen to silly lies all day long, are outcasts. Renegades. Lone wolves.
As an only child, I came to peace with my role as a lone wolf years ago. The lone wolf is still in relationship with the pack. The goals are the same for all wolves: survival of the pack. It’s the tactics that differ.
A lone wolf is a scout. Scouts receive, carry, and transmit information. Many times, the information is disruptive.
Is it the lone wolf’s fault that he reports that the well is poisoned or the food source gone? No, of course not. But even wolves can’t help but to “shoot the messenger,” which is why the lone wolf doesn’t pretend or bother to cozy up to the pack. The leader of the pack may find that he’s threatened by outside information. It may conflict with his plans. Consequently, he may choose to assign blame to someone near to him. The strong wolves may contend.
Scratch that. The strong wolves will contend. To put it in human terms, you can study psychology for years and still have little or no clue how to shelve your ego for the good of the team.
Great Deeds Are Done By Highly Functional Teams
Here’s a major clue. Have you heard of Patrick Lencioni and his Five Dysfunctions of a Team frameworks for better teamwork and greater success?
In this order the five dysfunctions are: Absence of trust; Fear of conflict; Lack of commitment; Avoidance of accountability, and Inattention to results.
We’ve all been on bad teams. Some of us are on bad teams now. Change is a process, and to get the process rolling it takes motivation and tools. The motivation won’t be supplied by anyone but you.
When you are moved to place your team’s dysfunctions under glass, it opens up new avenues for prosperity to grow, and prosperity is the mother of generosity. When you make these conscious moves, you also begin to shift into an “abundance mindset” and leave “scarcity mindset” behind.
Scarcity mindset takes many ugly forms. In the ad agency business, it’s pervasive. Common complaints pile up quick. When not enough time, not enough money, and not enough respect become the operative frameworks for one’s day-to-day, you’re screwed. These pressures do not create diamonds. Instead, these pressures deflate the imagination and destroy team spirit, sense of purpose, and unity.
Fear of Shadows and the Unknown
People often wonder why so much crap gets made and why it sells. Lack of talent and absence of taste are two possibilities, but I don’t think they’re the real culprits.
I’ve worked in the ad agency business for 25 years and the great majority of people I’ve been around are smart and come to the table with good ideas. However, without a functional team to protect and advance their unpolished gems, their big ideas never make it into production.
Dysfunctional teams brew a toxic workplace culture where bad habits compound into multiple headaches for everyone. Working late and again on the weekends, dealing with petty jealousies, constant back-channeling, poor leadership, no transparency, and so many other needless problems confront today’s laborer.
Lencioni’s second dysfunction — fear of conflict — eats away at teams, personal happiness, and productivity day by day, week by week. I must ask, what exactly are so many people so damn scared of? It’s no more or less important than his other four dysfunctions, but I want to give it emphasis here. Fear of conflict is at the heart of our societal dysfunction. Today, it seems that people would prefer a root canal over speaking honestly and critically about a problem.
Fear is irrational. Fear of conflict is much worse. Fear of conflict is a mirror into the hollowness where our bravery and integrity once lived. There’s no reason for us to live this way, but we do it anyway. I guess it’s just a whole lot easier to hide behind screens where you can control your inputs. Out in the wild, where people live and work, conflict can’t be avoided. Consequently, we have widespread ghosting and a host of other maladies.
Get Up, Stand Up
I don’t know how to inject a massive dose of bravery into the culture and into our business worlds. All I can offer is the time tested maxim, lead by example.
Also this: loosen up. We’re riding on a beautiful rock through space. Control is an illusion. Love is real.
