CREATING EXCITEMENT IN WORK GROUPS (2000 words)

By Geoffrey M. Bellman

(Based on his book, THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST: Breathing New Life into Organizations.
Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, 2000. www.bkconnection Contact the author at
gbellman@aol.com.)

The places most exciting to go visit are those we have yet to see. The questions most intriguing

are those we have yet to answer. This is as true of a plant team meeting as it is of a family

vacation. The attraction to and repulsion from the Unknown excites our energy.

Work groups often rise to the challenge of working hard together to meet plan. Or, cooperating

to execute a strategy. Even completing a meeting on time, all agenda items covered, can be a

thrill! But for sheer energy generated, these goal-oriented accomplishments do not compare to

stepping off the edge of their organizational map into uncharted territory. Doing so with a group

of committed people can be a life-altering experience. The Unknown is a reliable source of

individual and group energy—not always comfortable, but reliable. Many people respond to the

excitement, the mystery, the fear, the possibility, that the Unknown offers. The organizational

challenge is not so much in creating that excitement as releasing it.

The planned, structured, controlled nature of our large organizations (and our small selves)

doesn’t want to acknowledge the Unknown. It does not fit with plan; it cannot be controlled. Our

structures prefer the predictable to the unpredictable which threatens order and must be

eliminated. Major projects have their outcomes defined before they begin: “We know what we

are doing and where we are going!” “I don’t know!”, is an unacceptable response in a high

control corporation; say it at the wrong time in the right meeting and you may find your career

turning in the wrong direction.

But listen to these comments from a meeting in quite a different organization:

"This is worth trying, but I don't have a clue whether it will work.”

“We have never done anything like this before so why should we know what to do next?!?”
“What we've been doing doesn’t work all that well so it's time to do something we don't know how

to do!”

“It's important for us to try this, even though it is very risky!”

“That’s a good question, and I love not knowing the answer to it!"

The first half of each comment offers an assessment and the second half opens to the unknown.

The vitality of each comment comes from the combination of known and unknown; it’s this

dynamic between reality and possibility that creates interest and energy. Successful, alive groups

have an intuitive sense of the importance of this dynamic, rooted but reaching, grounded but not

bounded. Groups that know of this dynamic can talk about it and build on it.

This article offers five ways of creating and building on the dynamic that exists between what is

known and unknown by a group (or an individual.) These five methods create new excitement in

groups, helping them move from the familiar to the foreign, from the expressed to the

unexpressed:

• Clarify the important

• Reveal our secrets

• Offer our gifts

• Proclaim the positive

• Ask intriguing questions

Each of these methods will be offered as a series of questions. Asked at the right moment, they

evoke and expand the group’s expression of itself and its potential.

CLARIFY THE IMPORTANT

Answer each of these questions, one after another:

• What is your work?

• Why is that important to you?

• And why is that important to you?

• And why is that important to you?

These “ Why?” questions probe for deeper meaning and purpose; each question moves us to

another level, coming closer to the truth about the life this work holds for us. Pause to try these

questions on yourself regarding a current project. See where the questions lead you. And

imagine what your work group could do with them if asked at the right time.

These questions can lead a small group of co-workers toward a better mutual understanding of

why they come to work each day. When they share their individual meanings with each other,

they discover how much they have in common at a deeper level, at the third Why level. We are

much more united at these deeper levels than our job descriptions could ever reflect. As we

move to our deeper whys, we come closer to the mutual meanings of this work in our lives:

These are the real reasons we come to work; these are the sources of energy for our work

together. You have heard others question the motivation of the workers—or the leaders. This

series of why questions leads to each individual’s truth about motivation.

REVEAL OUR SECRETS

In the context of our work…

• What do you worry about and not discuss with each other?

• What concerns are you keeping to yourself?

• What anxieties keep coming to you that you do not express to others?

• What work concerns do you have that you do not want others to know about?

Many of us tie up our energy in a silent swirl about our doubts …about how well we are doing, or

what we can’t do well, or what we don’t know how to do, or how we are fooling others. This

hidden, internal swirl of energy is not available for more constructive work. And, because we

don’t want anyone to know these secret concerns, we have no way to escape our feelings of

being less, being wrong, being inadequate. It feels like we are condemned to carry them forever!

What can be done to reduce the burden of what’s being hidden?

This is a touchy area, but I am not going to pass it by just because it is sensitive. Done well and

at the right time, a positive excitement can be generated. The challenge is to find a way for

people to acknowledge that there is much that is unsaid, and this has become a burden that

blocks their effectiveness. Do not begin by asking the group to discuss the questions listed

above. That kind of frontal assault will result in everyone shutting down and tightening up.

Search for ways for people to acknowledge their unspoken concerns without identifying

themselves. For example, here is one way that I have seen work with groups of ten to twenty

people: Suggest that everyone thinks about the above questions. Then ask each person to write

down one concern that a)that relates to group performance, b)that they have not expressed to the

group, c) that they have thought about repeatedly. Tell them that they will not be identified but

what they write will be read to the whole group and the group will consider all it hears. Tell them

all of this before asking them to do anything. Then have them write their one concern on a

separate sheet of paper and drop it into a box. Ask one person to read the concerns to the whole

group. When the group hears them all, it can discuss what it heard and deal with the patterns.

People feel better then they discover that their individual concerns are not so individual after all!

And that is what usually happens. This reduces secrecy and puts more truth on the table for all to

see and use. The secrets are not secrets anymore; a new level of conversation and truth is open

for the group. You can feel the new receptiveness and energy when this happens. Be sensitive

about opening these secrets, but do not overlook their positive possibilities.

OFFER OUR GIFTS

In the work we are doing together:

• What do you do particularly well?

• What do you enjoy doing with others?

• What do you have to offer that you would like to give to the larger organization?

Abilities? Background? Perspective? Attitudes? Experience?

• What do you have that others in the organization could benefit from?
These questions draw out our desire to contribute what is most unique about ourselves. Think of

it as the gifts people would like to offer. In a receptive setting, people willingly and energetically

tell you of the talents they have developed over the years. Imagine asking everyone working in a

five hundred person organization to answer these questions…Imagine five hundred people, or

one hundred groups, each noting three talents they could bring to work. Think of the hundreds

gifts that are available to the organization!

And how might you do this with a work group? Start by explaining the process, presenting the

above questions to the group, and getting their support for answering the questions. Then ask

individuals to spend three minutes alone thinking about the gifts they bring and completing this

statement three times: “I bring _______.” When they are all ready, go around the group asking

each person to share one of their three answers: “I bring…I bring…I bring…I bring…” Go around

the group three times with no other comments. Just listen. And afterward, talk together about

what you heard, what you felt, and what you might do with all of these gifts.

PROCLAIM THE POSITIVE

• When have you been especially proud of this group?

• What do you appreciate about others in this group?

• What have been some of your best experiences in working together?

• What do you see that gives you hope for this group?

• What have you seen happen in this group that draws it together?

These questions draw out our positive thoughts and experiences; they elicit stories of

appreciation for what we already have; they reduce preoccupation with the negative. When

answered honestly, life begins to display itself, people get excited. This is not the whole picture,

but it is the side of the picture frequently neglected or crowded out by more critical voices. Those

critical voices are important too, but not as likely to be the source of new group vitality. Ask the

questions; listen to the stories that come back as answers.

ASK INTRIGUING QUESTIONS

I have used this fifth and last method in the earlier four. It asks people what they do not know

that they would like to know; it is a series of questions about questions:

• What questions intrigue you?

• What questions arouse your curiosity? Excitement?

• What questions keep running through your mind, over and over again?

• What are the questions that you have not answered, may never answer, but keep asking

yourself?

These questions can provoke some intriguing responses. Our regular work is too often filled with

answers rather than questions. As I said earlier, we are supposed to know the answers to

questions, not to live in the question. We are expected to make statements, showing what we

know. The above questions lead us out to the edges of what we know, close to the attractions

that lie beyond our knowledge. I watched this happen during a recent meeting. The life had left

the meeting; we had no energy for the agenda before us. Then someone said, “Forget what

we’ve been talking about, what we’ve done, what we should do…Instead, consider, what

questions interest you? What questions are really alive for you? What questions excite you?”

During a few moments of silence, we each collected our questions, and then they came spewing

forth. With all of our questions, we could feel our excitement build. We used our many questions

to decide what we wanted to do next. And we moved in a new direction that had more life for all

of us.

These are just five of the many ways of releasing excitement in groups; there are many others:

Think about humor’s place in creating energy…or how about sorrow, celebration, play, mourning,

ritual. For more clues as to what might bring some new excitement to your organization, consider

your experience in your family and other communities: What brings life to them? What are they

doing that causes you to feel especially alive? Pay attention to anything that helps these groups

explore new territory and reflect on themselves. Discover what excites other groups and bring

those ideas to work with you.