Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.
Ryunosuke Satamoto
Recently I had a conversation with the leadership team of a company. We were discussing next steps for them and how they, moving forward, can cater for the business targets.
The conversation was quite vivid and we made good progress, both in understanding what needs to be done and what needs to change.
During the conversation though, one of said leaders, started blaming some of their direct reports. I told them that I will not have a conversation blaming someone without them present. We can have constructive conversations about changes and experiments to run, but when it comes to blame I don’t find it fair when the affected parties aren’t present.
Which let me to realise how, in this particular company, they still see the individual contributor as a unit. Now I have to help them realise that the only unit is the team. Blame, praise and work is given to the team, not the individual.
Wish me luck!