Insights for the Journey

Pent-up resentment can break out when teams switch to self-management.Perhaps there was a team member who has made life difficult for everyone else for a long time, but was protected by their manager. When that protection falls away, that person might suddenly be exposed to the team's ire and things can turn ugly. Teams need help to deal with such situations.

This seems to happen a lot. In newly self-managing teams, people avoid the difficult conversations. Problems fester because they don't get addressed.The obvious answer? Let's get everyone some feedback training, right? That's of course always a good thing, but if you've seen some of the previous episodes, you'll perhaps know that I believe there is something deeper at play that you need to address.

This happens regularly. Teams relish their new freedom, but don't seem to take up the corresponding responsibility.What might be happening?

I've heard this a few times from perplexed leaders: Are there people who like to powerless and told what to do? Perhaps "my people" aren't ready for self-management yet?Certainly, some people have suffered from being powerless for so long that they've found a certain refuge in that position. Here's what it takes to invite them to get out of that unhealthy place: take out the safety net!

When you find that working with self-management is really hard, I'm willing to bet it's for one of these two reason:- You haven't formalized the new practices enough.- Or that you have settled into being half-pregnant.

Teams that embrace self-management go through a lot of learning ... regular team check-in sessions are critical for that learning to be processed. In this episode, I'll share among other some powerful questions teams can reflect on.

The transition to self-management can be at times both exhilarating and painful. Spaces to explore the pain with colleagues can offer great relief. Oh, I'm not the only one having trouble with this. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with me after all! Similarly, when someone struggling hears a colleague share a breakthrough, it gives them inspiration and confidence. Creating such spaces has another benefit: when people don't have a place to express their pain, they often project it out. Self-management is a stupid idea, this will never work! You'll avoid much unnecessary struggle by simply offering a space where people can express how challenging this transformation can be.

Training can help in the massive shift that every team member needs to navigate on the journey from hierarchy to self-management. But there is no reason to do it the old-fashioned way.

Self-management works when healthy peer pressure makes people accountable to their commitments.But because we've all known situation where it's been harsh, peer pressure sometimes has a bad name.Let's talk about how we are wired for peer feedback, how peer pressure is the most natural way for a system to self-regulate and how we can make it as healthy as possible.

This is a question I've heard of few times and which seems to prevent some leaders from making the leap to self-management.In self-management, we want the team as a whole to feel accountable for its results... but people outside the team often want one person to speak on behalf of the team. How can you square these apparently conflicting demands?