“Well, sh*t. That didn’t go how we hoped it would.”
That’s what went through my head when I took in this scene on Tuesday.
We’d gotten excited when it started snowing this morning. Colorado is having the driest winter in 40 years of recorded weather history. I don’t care about the skiing – I care about the fire danger come summer. So when snow started falling unexpectedly, we thought maybe the front in the mountains had pushed east and kept our fingers crossed for a real weather event.
Twenty minutes later it stopped. Then the sun came out and melted it all.
For a few minutes we were hopeful we’d get a little relief from the worry. Then the dread set back in.
Excitement > Reality > Dread. Sound like a team you know? It very well might, because teams experience this cycle too.
They commit to something they know matters – building deeper relationships, maintaining accountability practices, having the hard conversations. Everyone agrees. It feels promising. It shows up briefly.
Then it melts away.
The excuse is always time. “There’s not enough time to chit chat.” “We can’t spend an hour on this with everything else going on.” “We’ll get to it after this urgent thing passes.”
They want it. Oh, they want it.
They just don’t want it enough to actually prioritize it, even though the deeper relationships and harder conversations would ultimately drive the speed and efficiency they’re so desperate for.
Real change – the kind that sticks – needs the right conditions.
- Agreement that these commitments exist to make the team stronger.
- Role modeling from the top.
- Real conversations about how these “time-consuming” practices have actually helped the business.
- And it helps to have someone tracking what’s coming and reporting what’s actually happening – an external weather forecaster keeping you honest.
I worked with a team years ago that actually sustained it. They had strong commitments to each other, consistent role modeling from the leader, and ongoing conversations about how the intangibles were driving results. They kept the momentum because they created the conditions for it to accumulate instead of melt.
What conditions are you creating? And are you building the kind of sustained change that sticks, or just hoping for a dusting that makes you feel better before the sun comes out?
Looking to increase the cohesion, trust, and impact of your leadership team? Reach out and let’s discuss The Compass Team Experience and how I can help.
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