Are we an Inclusive Team?

In organizations of today, it is inevitable that we have to work in teams. These teams may be formed for a temporary period of time or on a semi-permanant basis. Now, working in teams requires different types of skills, as teams are usually formed by people with different talents, skill sets, experiences and technical knowledge. In addition to this, the different individuals bring with them diverse behavioural profiles, cultural backgrounds and mental paradigms that need to come together to form some kind of common base and that will bring benefits of the synergistic whole. With the increase of travel, teams are further complicated in that we would have the added element of individuals who come from different ethnic cultures and speak different languages.

There are many aspects of teams that we can discuss about. Today, I would like to cover the aspect of the different profiles and characteristics of individuals

that come together to form a team. Quite some time ago I came across the story of A Peacock in the Land of Penguins. It was an interesting book that was authored by BJ Gallagher Hateley and Warren H. Schmidt.

A Peacock in the Land of Penguins talks about the challenges of birds of different feathers trying to work together through the interesting story of Perry the Peacock and the other exotic birds who struggle to be themselves in the "conformity-minded" Land of Penguins. This delightful story highlights with humour the importance of understanding and embracing the full range of perspectives that people bring to bear on their work.

The story tells of a Land of Penguins where, "If you want to be successful, ..... you need to be like a Penguin, be like us!" That being so the Penguins told all their little Penguins, "this is the way we do things here." Certainly, this assured the older Penguins that the pecking order would never be disturbed.

Perry Peacock did not think so. He was "bright, colorful, and noisy." Yet, in an effort to fit in, Perry folded his tail and wings, and kept his head low, and tried to observe the proper Penguin protocol. This, obviously, did not work for long. Perry was not a Penguin, and the harder he tried to fit in, the more he discovered that while he could pretend to be like the Penguins, in his mind, he was still fundamentally a Peacock, and each passing day that he passed as a Penguin, only made him increasingly unhappy.

The fable goes on to tell that, Perry planned to bring other colorful, exotic birds to the land of the Penguins. Perhaps this was his attempt to gather reinforcements. The new birds joined Perry in his frustration because they had come to the land of the Penguins "with such high hopes and great expectations," wanting to "contribute and be successful," but they were met with "quiet criticism, stifling conformity, and subtle rejection."

In the end, Perry and the other exotic birds leave the land of the Penguins for the "Land of Opportunity" where all the birds were encouraged (think of that!) to "express themselves freely.

In the corporate world, almost everyone has had the experience of feeling hurt and frustrated, by not being accepted, or by being perceived as "different" or a "rebel" and not fitting into the group. People who have good ideas that differ from conventional wisdom are often ignored or criticized for the very thing that makes them valuable to the organization-their creativity. Ideas on the need for change can come from anywhere, and people in organizations need to break out of their "penguin paradigm" to createa climate that encourages new ideas and empower individuals to take risks and have different views.

There are numerous ideas that we can take away from the story. One that I would like to highlight here, is that for teams to really work effectively, proper preparation and coaching is needed to enable "different types of birds" to work together and to spot the "this is not the way we do things" mind-sets that blocks the creativity and innovation that can come from a diversified team. Therefore, when projects teams are being formed(or formed) we should guard against doing the normal.......which is to "dive-in", and immediately start the problem solving......forgetting the need to bring(forming) the group together first.