CHAPTER 10

When Athletes and Sages Meet: An Exercise in Constructive Conflict

Athletes are extremely competitive and quickly pursue their goals. Sages are directed by their values and their interest in developing a harmonious community. While Athletes are better at capturing opportunities as they emerge, Sages are more effective at building the culture and competencies necessary to sustain these gains. So the key to simultaneously maximizing the benefits from both dominant worldviews is to identify the most winning members of your team and then to make their practices a part of the team’s underlying culture, codifying their gifts by using them as criteria for hiring and staffing.

Competitive organizations such as sports franchises or celebrated restaurants use scouting reports to assess high-potential talent. A great quarterback or a world-renowned chef can be the difference between success and failure. While individual performance is essential, how a player fits within the mission and strategy of an organization is equally as important. This is where the Athlete and the Sage share a common aim but with a vastly different approach.

Follow this exercise to create a dynasty of winning teams:

1. Identify clear goals for success. These can be quantifiable, such as a 10 percent increase in profits next year, or qualitative, such as adherence to an oath of service.

2. Investigate which performers currently have the best track record in achieving this goal. This person can be within your organization or another organization. Gather information like an anthropologist working in the field. Analyze the information as if you were an intelligence officer or an industry analyst.

3. Based on your investigation, set two sets of realistic benchmarks for performance. The first set of benchmarks should be measurable targets or key indicators, for example:

• Reduce our operating budget by 5 percent by the start of next month

• Lower employee attrition rates by 30 percent by the end of next year

• Accelerate our time to market for new product development by seven days

The second set of benchmarks should be specific performance or demonstrated ability that you want, for example, the ability to:

• Build and lead teams

• Create a broad coalition of support

• Implement easy and early wins

4. Connect the two sets of benchmarks: the measurable goal with the performance attributes that create them to develop a scorecard by which to measure and assess potential high performers. See the example below:

• Goal: To achieve lower employee attrition rates by 30 percent by the end of next year

• Performance Attributes: Rate the candidates on their ability to perform the tasks listed below (Table 6)

TABLE 6. RATING THE CANDIDATES

5. Connect the dots by applying this scorecard in many processes, such as an interview process, a new employee orientation program, team-building exercises, or other organizational development systems.

6. Fully integrate the desired attributes into your training and mentoring program to develop these skills in your current employees. For example, you might want to pair an Athlete and a Sage in a workshop on effective teambuilding. Depending upon their abilities, you may also want to include these high performers as trainers, facilitators, and coaches.

By searching for high performers and reapplying their best practices to the appropriate members of the organization, you can reach quick and sustainable innovation through the constructive conflict between the Athlete and Sage.