Skip to main content

Module 6: Leaving Space for Creativity

Team Creativity & Innovation

Reflecting on Module 6 Readings

Personal Takeaways & Key Insights: 

  • Event-driven histories "Fail, fast, forward"
  • Understanding the "Why?"
    • Identify & Enthusiasm
  • Personal commitment
  • Creative synthesis leads to breakthroughs
  • Divergent vs. Convergent thinking

Summary of Reflection:

In this module, we expanded upon core elements and defining characteristics of high-performing teams.  Several of these themes centered around a team's ability to establish a strong purpose and meaning related to the defined goals and objectives.  To achieve a strong sense of purpose, teams must possess high energy and enthusiasm with individual and mutual commitments to the over-arching goals.  Teams also need to allow space to evaluate failures or missteps in their work, quickly learn from these circumstances, and apply learnings to future work.  In my journal entry for this week, I outlined a peer who frequently stated "fail, fast, forward" concerning team projects.  While hearing this always served the team as a reminder to pause and reflect on the circumstance, it truly became a team mindset, enabling creative problem-solving and ultimately enhancing the quality of our work product.  

Journal Entry Archive: 

Elaboration:

In addition to the core elements and defining characteristics of effective teams discussed throughout the semester, this week's reading assignment introduced a second set of characteristics.

  1. Identity & Themes - The key lies in the richness of their meaning
  2. Enthusiasm and Energy Level
  3. Event-Driven Histories - "Fail-Fast-Forward"
  4. Personal Commitment - Enriches a team's sense of purpose
  5. Performance Results

The first characteristic in this second set reminded me of the importance of "why?" Teams must understand their individual and collective "why" to become effective. Without understanding why a team cannot possibly tackle what they need to do and how they plan to do it. 


Concrete Examples:

Expanding on the above, I reflected on event-driven histories. I was reminded of a peer I had the pleasure of teaming up with on several projects. This peer used to iterate the phrase "fail-fast-forward" often in group work. Not in a sense that the team would fail as a whole but that we would inevitably encounter failures or roadblocks to our success. When met with these 'failures,' it became our team's charge to quickly learn from the experience and allow the insights we gleaned to propel us forward. Of course, only some ideas, processes, or products we brought to the table would be a winning idea. However, this motto became a mindset that allowed us to move forward, foster creativity, and ultimately develop a better end product. 


Gerard, S. (n.d.).  Author Post: Fail Fast And Fail Forward … Learn By Doing!  Forbes. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2021/07/29/fail-fast-and-fail-forward--learn-by-doing/?sh=700427fe43a7


‌Dual Coding:

Creative Synthesis: Allows diverging ideas or thought processes to come together, enabling breakthrough solutions. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module1: Team Forming ......Naturally!

The Foundations of High-Performing Teams  A Reflection on Module 1 Readings Personal Takeaways & Key Insights:  Clarity and alignment of goals Establishing an organizational culture that fosters natural team-forming Mutual Accountability Trust Summarizing my key takeaways from this module, I touch on the importance of goal setting, mutual accountability, supportive leadership, and most importantly TRUST amongst team members.   Elaboration This week's readings set the stage for understanding the foundations of high-performing teams. The example of the naturally developed team was interesting to me and reinforced the need for clarity and alignment around performance goals and mutual accountability. How do teams form naturally? When team members have their eyes set on achieving a common goal, they have an individual incentive to work with team members of varying skill sets to achieve that goal. The goals become more significant than their individual needs for succes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting Started: Anchor's Away!

Module 1  Reflecting on Personal Experience: During the first week of this course, we were asked to document our initial understanding of high-performance teams by reflecting on past experiences.  As I am sure everyone can relate, not all team experiences are positive.  It is much easier to recall bad examples (particularly during our MBA pursuit) than it is to recall positive experiences; however, this exercise forced us to dig deeper to differentiate the two experiences by reflecting on influencers of high-performing teams.   For example, reflecting on my past experiences, I provided three characteristics of high-performing and low-performing teams.  High Performing Teams:  Alignment and adoption of shared goals and objectives Clearly defined roles and responsibilities Trust and Accountability Low Performing Teams: Siloed work-streams  Poor Communication Lack of clarity around the team’s purpose Following this exercise to reflect on strong and w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summarizing My Experience In this Course

 Understanding Effective Teams A Personal Reflection of this Journey:  Thank you for a fun and informative semester.  I would like to personally thank our TA as well for always providing thoughtful and insightful feedback to each and every item submitted.  Not only was the feedback helpful, but it was also always delivered in a positive and motivating tone.  Reflecting back on the journey this semester I revisited questions I entered into the course hoping to better understand.  My Key Questions:  As a leader, how do I foster an organizational culture that breads natural teaming? How does a leader influence a team when one or more members does not seem to be committed to the team's goas and objectives? How does the leader keep the team on track?  Personal Growth Opportunities:  To identify opportunities to grow as a leader in understanding how to influence my organization to naturally develop teams.  Knowing when to step away and let the...
Post a Comment
Read more