Almost everybody had a favorite super-hero when we were kids. Some of them have kept close to their image and principles, even in their adult life. However, not everybody knows that each super-hero is vulnerable. Why not, we are?
Super-hero vulnerability
Before moving forward, let’s do some research and remember those very well-known vulnerabilities from some very well-known super-heroes:
- Superman –> kryptonite.
- Wonder Woman –> her weapons can work against her.
- Green Lantern –> It is ineffective against anything made of the color yellow.
- Martian Man Hunter –> he is vulnerable to fire.
- Aquaman, DC’s Sea King –> He can only breathe out of water for an hour.
Now, that we know that super-heroes were and are vulnerable. What about us? What about our teams?
Team vulnerability
Based on what we know about our super-heroes should we help team members to become vulnerable with their teammates/organization? In my opinion, the answer is “YES”. If we go back to our super-heroes, we should remember the “Hall of Justice” team. They became stronger knowing their vulnerabilities. I am sure that teams could gain an advantage by knowing their vulnerabilities.
Helping teams to become vulnerable is not an easy job. However, as a coach, we can guide them. A good start would be to show them that we, as coaches, are ourselves vulnerable. At the same time, we could show them that becoming vulnerable is harmless; and nobody will blame them for their vulnerabilities.
In my experience, before starting with the team, we should start with the upper-management level; we should explain to the organization that “vulnerability” is not a bad thing. By doing so, it would allow you to create a secure environment to become vulnerable with your team(s). In fact, without a secure environment, it would be harder (sometimes impossible). With that being said, one of the pillars of becoming vulnerable as a team is to make the organization business-like about vulnerability.
How to do it? Well that is the core of this article. Here there are 3 team exercises. Each of them could be tested with executive teams or scrum/agile teams.
Vulnerability exercises
Here, you will find that some of the exercises that I use a lot are to build trust, become vulnerable and decrease the level of shame. For sure there are more exercises to work with on this matter, but here are my 3 favorites:
Personal histories
Source: “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” book by Patrick Lencioni. (see it at Amazon here)
Purpose: To improve trust by giving team members an opportunity to demonstrate vulnerability in a low-risk way and to help team members understand one another at a fundamental level so that they can avoid making false attributions about behaviors and intentions.
Time Required: 15 – 25 Minutes
Instructions: Go around the table and have everyone answer three questions about themselves.
- Where did you grow up?
- How many siblings do you have and where do you fall in that order?
- Please describe a unique or interesting challenge or experience from your childhood.
Debrief: Ask team members to share what they learned about one another that they didn’t already know. This reinforces the purpose of the exercise and allows for a natural ending to the conversation.
You can find the complete information download about this exerciser here
Behavioral Profiling
Source: “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” book by Patrick Lencioni (see it at Amazon here)
Purpose: To improve trust by giving team members an opportunity to demonstrate vulnerability in an objective, in-depth way, and to help team members understand one another’s strengths and weaknesses so that they can avoid making false attributions about behaviors and intentions.
Time Required: Two to four hours, depending on the size of the team, the skills of the facilitator, and the team members’ level of knowledge of the profiling tool.
Instructions: There are a few profiling tools, in the book, the author proposes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), but you could use another where you are more comfortable. In my personal case, I found that test very complicated to do in agile teams; however, it could be a good test for executive teams. For agile teams, I started to use the PCM (Process Communication Model).
With your favorite profiling tool, you should be able to:
- Present the test and have all team members complete your test.
- Explain results of the test.
- Present the results to the team members.
- Interpret the results as a team.
- Identify potential team weaknesses that the group must avoid as a result of its particular inclinations.
- Acknowledge strengths.
- Let team members talk about their results, particularly the insights and description of their tendencies. Also, have them choose one or two areas that they would like to improve about themselves based on your profiling test type.
Within one or two weeks of completing this exercise, have team members go back to the teams they are part of and discuss their profiles. This provides an opportunity for them to demonstrate vulnerability with their team members, and to give them a better understanding of their probable strengths and weaknesses.
Debrief: Ask team members to share what they learned about one another that they didn’t already know. This reinforces the purpose of the exercise and allows for a natural ending to the conversation.
You can find the complete information download about this exerciser here
Failures/Opportunities talks
Source: So far, I haven’t read anything about this that is exactly like this one. I could say that I put something new into practice, but seriously, I prefer to avoid any discussion about it. In any case it is a combination of different exercises I have learned lately. If you know the source of an exercise like this one, please let me know about it. Also, if you like it and want to use it, I will be more than happy if you share the results or your experience with us.
Purpose: Create the mind set to talk about failures inside the team. See failures as opportunities and learn from them as a team. Allow team members talk about failures and build a high level of trust without anyone taking full blame or shame. Please be sure that you use this one as the last one to do, and normally I would run this one a few weeks after the other two to reinforce the dynamic of the team.
Instruction: Sit your team down in a circle and present the activity as the “failure/opportunity talk”, where one failure is one new opportunity to learn something new. The idea is that each team member thinks of something that they consider as a “failure”. It could be something that happened to himself/herself or to someone else. As soon as all the members have something in mind, here are the instructions:
- One team member starts with the history about the failure. He/she gives the information to the others and provides all of the detail he/she is able to.
- Each team member must transform that situation as one opportunity or one lesson learned. Create a time frame (3 to 5 min). Team members must write down each opportunity/lesson learned. (individual task)
- Create a time frame discussion period for what the members have written. It is very important to always talk and discuss the situation/history. The facilitator must avoid any discussion about the author/personage of the situation/history. (Alternative: you could form groups of 2 or 3 people)
- At the end of the time allotment, the next team member starts with a new situation/history.
- We repeat it until we don’t have more histories/situations.
Debrief: Ask team members to share the experience, how they feel when others talk about their situation/history. Ask also about the lesson learned and opportunities identified.
I hope you appreciate this article. Do you have experience leading these exercises? Do you have other exercises to build the trust and work in the vulnerability of team members? If so, please post it here!!!
Thank you,
Omar
References:
- “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable” by Patrick Lencioni
- “Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators” by Patrick Lencioni