Stretch for Novelty
[Bonding & Bridging: Part 3]
I promise this is my last post about bonding and bridging (for now!). As mentioned in the previous posts, well-bonded and well-bridged teams enjoy both strong internal cohesion and broad external connection.
If you were to measure your team’s B&B Quotient (not a thing, I just made it up), where would you score? High on bonding? Low on bridging? Go ahead, take a minute and check in with yourself. Take your current team experiences and ask:
Are we clear on what we’re trying to accomplish? Do we know why we’re working together? (Don’t laugh, I’ve seen teams that can’t answer these questions).
Are we actively connecting with outsiders for more than information sharing? Have we cultivated external partners and outside perspectives? (Again, most teams prefer to “find the data” and forget that talking to other people can provide important data too).
How can we take our next best step when it comes to bonding and bridging? In his book Messy, Tim Harford suggests a few steps. Here goes:
Admit that we mostly spend time with people like us. You know it. I know it. We gravitate to the people who seem most like us. Next time, go do something different.
Celebrate people who can connect disparate groups. If you know someone who bridges two different worlds well, tell them you appreciate their ability to stretch.
Acknowledge the benefits of tension. In some of the research, groups that produce the best results, don’t always enjoy the experience. It would seem that some friction can be a good thing. Harmony is the enemy of good thinking.
Believe that stretching yourself is the better approach. Look, we all know that working with challenging people and entertaining alternative perspectives can be frustrating – but, more often than not, it can lead you to a better solution.
While this conversation about bonding and bridging has been focused on teams, the suggestions are very much targeting us as individuals.
Next time you find yourself gravitating to something familiar, take an abrupt turn and try something different. Your future group members will thank you.
Inspiration
Harford, T. (2016). Messy: How to be creative and resilient in a tidy-minded world. London, UK: Little, Brown. (Chapter 2: “Collaboration”)