Lettersnatcher

Thomas Keil, a management professor at the University of Zurich and Marianna Zangrillo, a partner at The Next Advisors authored a Harvard Business Review article titled “Why leadership teams fail.” They studied leadership teams interviewing over 100 CEO’s across 10 years. Their study showed 3 patterns of dysfunction and most of us belong to one of the 3 below:

1. Shark Tank: These consist of dysfunctional teams. They have very competitive, self-centered people. Such individuals are involved in a lot of infighting and playing politics. We do know that some competition is necessary, but when that gets taken to the extreme, problems basically start. These consist of people who are insecure and rarely cooperate with one another.
2. Petting Zoo: A petting zoo consists of teams with extreme conflict avoidance. Team members just pursue collaboration and don’t challenge each other because they know no one will oppose them. These are weak people with no ambition and believe in the status quo. There is no innovation among them. If someone new introduces fresh thinking, the old-timers join forces to put him in place. People act safely and there is so much psychological safety that people just agree to everything.
3. Mediocracy: These are teams with too much complacency. They lack competence and dwell on past performance without doing anything much. Most often they consist of people who are not suited for their jobs but still cling on and coast through.

All 3 are dangerous for any organization and we belong to one of the 3. Which one do you belong to?