In principle, we each have our gifts. Some people are better at some things than others and we all have our good days and bad days. I know of a basketball coach who encourages his team to shoot around before every game and figure out who has the “hot hand”, who seems to be particularly gifted that day. Get the ball into the hands of that person, he encourages.
Practical Tip: For any given task on any given day, figure out who is most suited to lead. It could be anyone. If you are not the most able or not top-performing for whatever reasons, support someone who is.
Members of high-functioning groups are flexible and give the ball to whoever is most likely to succeed in the moment, regardless of prior established titles, positions, or plans.
– Craig Freshley
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Thanks for such a nice comment, Donna.
One of your best! Thank you for “food for thought” for my day.
Some of the magic about this approach is the simple acknowledgement that the project or mission is more important than any individual (no matter how gifted and dedicated.) True team work would always benefit from this simple idea!
I like this! In agile software development, there is a lot of discussion about how roles of business analyst, developer and tester may change. It’s not about who has what title, it’s about what needs done today and who will do it. The “hot hand” metaphor fits perfectly – thanks!
That is really cool! I love the progressiveness of these tips, thinking outside rigid structures and challenging people to function as a true team. This approach seems very healthy in that the strengths and weaknesses of people are acknowledged as changeable from day to day. I think this can work well if people can be open minded and not threatened by someone else being “stronger” on one day than another. I guess it would take some open dialogue, to determine who that person would be on a given day.