This month we move onto exploring the second of Daniel Coyle's (The Culture Code) three big skills that create successful groups: 1. Build Safety, 2. Share Vulnerability, and 3. Establish Purpose.
In chapter 7, Coyle details his research into how sharing vulnerability on the job, and specifically asking for help in a challenging situation, reinforces group culture and resolves problems more successfully. The example he starts with is the story of United Airlines flight 232 in July (yup, July) 1989. That flight experienced a "catastrophic failure" (p.92), in which the main engine, all control hydraulics and backups were lost. Amazingly, the pilot crew of three plus a passenger who happened to be a United pilot trainer, landed the plane at the closest airport. As Coyle writes, after touching down at twice the normal speed the plane cartwheeled, and sadly, 100 passengers did not survive the flight. But 185 passengers and crew did survive. Coyle describes how the National Transportation Safety Board ran 28 simulations to recreate the crisis, looking for better ways to manage it, and all 28 times the plane crashed without even getting close to a landing. Something special happened on that plane. The big takeaway? Coyle says it was the incredible, vulnerable, open problem solving communication patterns recorded by the airplane and airport. Fast-paced, short-burst, verbal communications, a communication style Coyle says pilots call 'notifications" (p.95). He says "a notification is not an order or a command. It provides context, telling of something noticed, placing a spotlight on one discrete element of the world...Unlike commands they carry unspoken questions: Do you agree? What else do you see?" In addition to notifications, the recorded communications included big open ended questions, mostly asked by the lead pilot Captain Al Haynes. Questions like "How do we get the [landing] gear down? Anybody have any ideas?" As Coyle points out, these are not the kind of questions Captains usually ask- in fact he says "they're the opposite." The lesson we learn here- according to Coyle, is that in times of crisis notification type communications can "...unlock a group's ability to perform. The key involves the willingness to perform a certain behavior that goes against our every instinct: sharing vulnerability." (p.97).
Later in the chapter, Coyle writes about other examples of high functioning teams that struggle through tough moments successfully because they have designed in moments that require sharing vulnerability to get things right. He covers Pixar Studios "Brain Trust Meetings", Navy SEALS "After Action Reviews" and the fast-paced server team at the Gramercy Tavern in NYC. The expectation that things will go wrong, the expectation that even highly trained and highly skilled team members will need help, and the expectation that it will be reviewed later in order to improve the whole team's chances for future success, are all part of the messy work.
So how can these stories help us?
Ask yourself if you feel safe to share vulnerability at your workplace? Do you know when and how you can share uncertainty or knowledge gaps with your coworkers and supervisor? Has your organization made it clear that asking for help is a great way to learn? Do you and your coworkers have opportunities to review projects for lessons learned? Or have you received the unspoken message that in your organizational culture you'd better figure it out yourself?
If you are a supervisor, think back to earlier years and whether you absorbed culture code messages about the tech hero solving complex problems alone in their office overnight. Was that how you got to your current position? Or did you work in successful collaborative teams that got great reproducible results? If so, what could you be doing to ensure that your team can confidently notify you that they want help with a project? Do you, could you, facilitate after action meetings or weekly team idea testing gatherings?
There is a lot more in this book on the big skill of sharing vulnerability, and we will cover it in the next newsletter!
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