"Playing Nice" - Another Pattern That Sustains Barriers

Last week I reviewed a pattern of thought and behavior that can really hurt a team's ability to perform at optimal levels. Here is another team dysfunction that I see play out across industries. I call it "Playing Nice," and here's how the cycle goes:

A) The team establishes a non-hierarchical (flat) mode of decision-making where everyone feels welcome to speak their mind and voice their opinions;

B) Maintaining this apparent harmony becomes an unwritten goal of the group;

C) As barriers or issues emerge within the team, the team makes no room for making waves when unpopular choices might be required to fix things;

D) As a result, accountability for addressing problems decreases and team members do not have an outlet for their concerns;

E) Over time, the implicit rule of “playing nice” outweighs incentives to address barriers and the dysfunctional pattern is sustained...

This pattern of "playing nice" can easily erode confidence in and capacity for learning and performance. A way to avoid this is to separate the person from the problem and when issues arise - attack the problem, but not the person. This can preserve a respectful tone in the group, but not at the expense of having tough conversations that lead to better decisions.