ADAPT TO
SURVIVE
General Stanley McChrystal in his book Team of Teams shares
eye opening stories and lessons learnt during his leadership of the Joint Special
Operations task force in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Americans were faced with fighting the Al
Qaeda in Iraq in 2003/2004 and the author narrates through his intriguing stories how the Al
Qaeda proved to the Americans through their tactics and surprising attacks how
superbly trained and organised they were. The Americans were quickly losing to
the Al Qaeda forces, and Mc Chrystal narrates how the only way they could
survive was to change their traditional military organizational practices. They
abandoned many of the precepts that had helped establish their efficacy in the
twentieth century, because the twenty first century was a different game with
different rules. They had to adapt to survive.
They switched from the old model of having
the subordinates provide information and leaders disseminating commands to the
leaders providing information so that subordinates could take the initiative
and make decisions. He adopted the
procedure of “Eyes On, Hands Off” and this created an organisation that
functioned 17times more effectively than before, and utterly destroyed their
most lethal adversaries.
He defines a Team of teams as a seamless
network of organization. In this fast changing environment with high
technological improvements, a team must be able to quickly engage, adapt and act
rather than react to survive.
‘….the constantly changing, entirely
unforgiving environment in which we all now operate denies the satisfaction of
any permanent fix.’
There are four essential qualities of Teams
that I learn from Gen Stanley.
1.
Trust and common purpose.
2.
Emphazise purpose over procedure
3.
Committed to sharing information
4.
Strong connections between teams
Thinking
about the team that I am a part of in my 8 to 8 job, it is clear that we have a
common purpose. It is however unfortunate that the aspect of trust is greatly
lacking as often times it is a case of survival for the fittest where people
will trample others to look good or in an attempt to get to the top.
There is a
lot of clarity and emphasis on procedure compared to purpose as there is no
room to think outside the box or to make mistakes. You are safer going by the books
at all times. This stifles growth and creativity and this is quite evident in
the team.
Sharing
information is on a need to know basis. This is largely because the teams are
not empowered but rather information is shared for action and not for decision
making and brainstorming.
The
connections are close to none existent as each team is pushing its agenda to
meet its share of the pie.
This is a
great challenge because as a member of the team reflecting on these comments
makes me wonder how much I can do to change the story. As a leader, how do I influence the people I
am working with to create a team of teams?
General Mc Stanley indicates the most
important leadership skills for leading a team of team as;
1.
Transparency; Being able to bond and build connections enough to
know that you have each others back. You are looking out for each other, no
matter what.
2.
Adaptability; In a fast growing environment the ability to adapt
only comes by creating a Team of Teams.
3.
Focus on teamwork; It is not a one man show. It is important to
let people feel like they are part of a whole.
These are skills that we each can learn if we
are to become great leaders, for I have come to learn that Leadership is a
choice.
As I conclude, I have learnt that there is
need for significant cultural change among most of the teams if they are to
survive. As a leader, there is need for a mind set change and this is not as
easy as it sounds as it takes faith. I
also know that my personal actions affect the people around me. I therefore
need to use my leadership skills to lead my life effectively as well as
influence the people around me to build a great team.
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