We’ve all known leaders who think that pitting individuals or teams inside the organization against each other is clever and productive.
I’ve always thought this was just plain silly. The competition is outside the walls of our business. That’s why they’re called the competition!
Team competitions within organizations are just plain dangerous:
- Such competitions create divisions that set the stage for infighting instead of innovation and market success.Once we focus our unconscious minds on a ‘fight” – that’s just what we get. Internally.
- Turf and/or fight-or-flight response takes over as productivity declines. And the spiral begins.
- The majority of our energy is spent defending within our own organization instead of competing in the external world.
None of these results offer a recipe for success. Nor do any of these approaches open our minds to become more creative, innovative or motivated.
As leaders we have the opportunity to focus on creating integrated, high-energy teams with all of their energy committed to serving our customers.
We can do that by asking questions and designing processes so that our teams come together to form a “whole” that is greater than the individual parts, or teams.
I think it’s time we forget the legacy thinking of internal competition and focus on winning where it matters – in the market.
What do you think?
