The quality of a team often reflects the metaphor by which the members organize. One powerful but underrated metaphor is the team as a “hive.” Think bees. In a hive, the team always supersedes the individual. What is good for the team is always good for the individual, whether the team member recognizes it or not. The hive operates from a singular mission and message and stays on course — or dies. Distraction from this mission is the enemy and every team member treats interference as a serious threat.
This is such a great thought. It really grabbed my attention. In your opening sentence, you say "..quality..reflects the metaphor by which the team members organize". Do you intend to assume that the organization of every team is guided by a metaphor?
My wife & I struggled to find the perfect metaphor for her business several years ago. We landed on "The Bonfire" due to its warm, welcoming, collaborative nature. It is a place where wisdom (if any is there) will eventually speak; Where one can both reflect on past performance and project future strategies. But I digress...
Thanks for the thought & I'd love to hear your answer to my question above.
Dave, I asked the author your specific question and this was the reply:
Implicitly or explicitly, all teams organize from an operating principle of how they should engage and think of each other. This principle is actually a group metaphor for why we work as a team. So Yes, all teams operate from a metaphor whether they make it explicit or not. The confusing issue is a team that operates with multiple metaphors which are often in conflict, such as family and team.
Oooh. Discerning question. I think some of both, but definitely operating. Now, 3 years into the biz, we definitely know it is not conclusive as an operating metaphor.
Good question. He often says, "Do your job." And I thought of those words when I read this sentence: "Because everyone is on-task at all times, loyalty to each other means showing up ready to perform." He's notorious for giving the media very little fodder that they could use to create distractions. And anyone who puts himself before the team usually doesn't last long. The recent book "It's Better to be Feared" was a pretty good inside look at how the team operated in the Brady/Belichick years.
Sure enough... and even when the prolific queen bee (Brady)seems like the time has come to be supplanted, you don't waste time with the hive debating for years on if it is the right time.
This is such a great thought. It really grabbed my attention. In your opening sentence, you say "..quality..reflects the metaphor by which the team members organize". Do you intend to assume that the organization of every team is guided by a metaphor?
My wife & I struggled to find the perfect metaphor for her business several years ago. We landed on "The Bonfire" due to its warm, welcoming, collaborative nature. It is a place where wisdom (if any is there) will eventually speak; Where one can both reflect on past performance and project future strategies. But I digress...
Thanks for the thought & I'd love to hear your answer to my question above.
Dave, I asked the author your specific question and this was the reply:
Implicitly or explicitly, all teams organize from an operating principle of how they should engage and think of each other. This principle is actually a group metaphor for why we work as a team. So Yes, all teams operate from a metaphor whether they make it explicit or not. The confusing issue is a team that operates with multiple metaphors which are often in conflict, such as family and team.
Thoughts?
Will ask the author specifically...
With that explanation, he was writing about an operating metaphor.
Was "The Bonfire" a marketing metaphor for her business or an attempt at an operating metaphor?
Oooh. Discerning question. I think some of both, but definitely operating. Now, 3 years into the biz, we definitely know it is not conclusive as an operating metaphor.
but any employee or intern or contractor would probably hear the metaphor from her early on?
Yes. We looked to it for guidance in most decisions.
Sounds a lot like the New England Patriots.
Interesting - think Coach Belichick ever uses the metaphor?
Good question. He often says, "Do your job." And I thought of those words when I read this sentence: "Because everyone is on-task at all times, loyalty to each other means showing up ready to perform." He's notorious for giving the media very little fodder that they could use to create distractions. And anyone who puts himself before the team usually doesn't last long. The recent book "It's Better to be Feared" was a pretty good inside look at how the team operated in the Brady/Belichick years.
Sure enough... and even when the prolific queen bee (Brady)seems like the time has come to be supplanted, you don't waste time with the hive debating for years on if it is the right time.