I’m going to utter a heresy in this article. At least, it’s a heresy to many of my colleagues working on culture.
A manager recently talked to me about helping his team collaborate more. I asked him what he would get out of that.
As often happens in coaching, I was surprised by his answer. I thought he would say something about results.
Instead, he said, “I just sense tension.”
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he wondered if there was something getting in the way of teamwork.
Sure, we could have surveyed his team to find out. But in the end, he decided to–hold on to your hats–go talk to them.
Reflecting on that, I wonder if a survey might have done his team a disservice. They would have had to go on the record. It might have increased tension. And those scores and comments would have to be interpreted–would they have said all they need to say, clearly?
All of that could be overcome. But you know how? By talking to them. So why not start there?
As you may have noticed from our current podcast series, Hip Socket is big on dialogue.
It’s the only way we have to wrestle to the truth about what’s going on in a relationship. You have to have two-way communication.
The beauty is, of course, that if you wrestle, you grow.
That is a long setup to a longer essay: “How Not to Find Out About Happiness” by J. Budziszewski. What if happiness (and, I would argue, engagement) wasn’t measurable in a survey?
It’s a scholarly piece but worth your time. As the subheading says, “The only way to find out about happiness is not with instruments or surveys, but with thoughtful conversation that cross-examines common views about happiness held throughout history.”
As happens so often, having a dialogue with the past can inform our future. I’ll end with a simple example:
Moses asked of God, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.“
If that’s true, how might it alter your thoughts on when you retire?
What you do when you are off work?
How you apply yourself to your work?
Happy wrestling.