It defies logic.
You’re in a traffic jam. . . road construction. . . orange cones everywhere. . . two lanes merging into one. There’s one long line of cars creeping forward, and next to it is a lane with cars zooming past to the point of the merge.
Then it happens: A driver moves his car out from the slow lane half way into the fast lane, effectively blocking both lanes of traffic. Now, both lanes are moving slowly.
At this point other drivers go crazy (i.e. obscene gestures and other dark displays of human behavior). The fastest way through the bottle neck can only be achieved if we work together. But one driver with a personal agenda stymies our collective progress.
The psychology of blockers is easy to understand – and painful to endure.
It happens on teams, too. First, divergent, big picture thinking is applied. (Two lanes become three, and then four. It’s like autobahns: speed.) Then, it’s time for divergent action. It’s time to execute differently. (An accident or repair work requires we narrow to one lane.)
‘Blockers’ aren’t good executors. They define winning by getting as many losers around them as possible. It bothers them when someone else may momentarily move faster than them (even though that’s how the plan was designed).
This week focus on ‘merging effectiveness.’ Ask your team: What must we do to get better at merging? How can we set each other up for greater success?
Success isn’t accomplished by engineering the perfect plan. It lies in human behavior. Your leadership and culture are your edge.
Share your comments below so other leaders can be inspired by you (and your ability to navigate in rough traffic).
The analogy doesn’t work from my viewpoint since the ones speeding by in the left lane are trying to cut their time at the roadblock by forcing everyone else to wait twice as long rather than taking their turn. The importance of drivers at the merge can be considered equivalent. At work, I’m an integrator and effective at getting around road blocks through working together. On the road, I block the lane because my time is just as important as those who refuse to merge until forced to do so by a barricade. 😉
I agree with the first comment. This is a bad analogy. I block not b/c I don’t want others to win, and not because my time is just as important…, but because passers actually slow down the entire flow of traffic by trying to force their way in at the last minute. By blocking, you are encouraging good flow for the entirety of the line at the point of biggest constriction. When blocking, you aren’t stopping the faster for selfish reasons. You’re stopping the selfish for the common good.
This is a great analogy! The comparisons to work are endless, and sitting in the jamb up you have lots of time to think about them. The passer’s psychology is also easy to understand – and painful to endure! It is a matter of perspective: the blocker has knowledge the passer chooses to ignore (when the passer slams on the breaks and merges, ALL the drivers must come to a screeching halt), the passer thinks he will get there first/faster/better. Both deflate the success of the team, in this case all the other passive drivers. Leaders understand there isn’t a perfect plan, passers will flame out, blockers will aggravate others. Is it reasonable to consider that true leaders are neither passers or blockers?
Another perspective: Why are the cones there in the first place? When I focus on actions of a few, I may miss the point all together. I live where we have the proverbial 2 seasons, Winter and construction. I am greatful for the construction. What might the difference be between professional drivers and suburbanites pushing through rush hour? BTW outside my window is a major highway, 3 times a day there is a back up. The cones that contribute to it are 2 miles away!!
Thank you Thad! You’re raising the bar for us – the key is focus. Are we focused on the roadblock – or the solution. I also appreciate your Degrees of Strength reminder about the need for the construction in the first place!
Linda and Evan – I’m enjoying these responses and certainly respect the varying perspectives (numerous more have been received in personal email). While it can be debated on which strategy slows traffic more – blockers or the full use of two lanes – this post has accomplished what we had hoped: Greater awareness of our behavior and alignment around the fact that we can/must get better at finding solutions to merging with greater efficiencies. (If not on the road, at least in the work place.) Thank you for stepping up and speaking up!
Craig
I would first like to say that your posting angered me so much that it put me completely on the Back Side of the energy map. I even dropped out of a POIS team meeting because I was so angry at your comments.
What you described is a simple case of a number of drivers being unwilling to wait patiently and queue along with the rest of the population, until, inevitably, one person becomes so frustrated that they decide to actively prevent any further queue-jumping.
Unbelievably, you say that the action of the blockers makes other drivers “go crazy”. This is not true. I can guarantee that every single person in the slow lane is appreciative of the blocker’s actions. But, clearly you don’t understand this as your whole posting is written from the perspective of someone who is used to being in the fast lane, as you describe it, “zooming past.” You even have the arrogance to suggest that the slower drivers are “losers”.
Your posting begins with the words “It defies logic”. Absolutely true. It does defy logic how somebody who claims to support ideas of teamwork and leadership can condone such blatantly arrogant and selfish driving behaviour.
After reading this post, I am struggling to maintain any respect for the Pathways leadership.
Stuart – thanks for contributing. I think you’re right, I may have made some arrogant assumptions. Please forgive me of any unintended fall-out it may have caused. While we may hold different perspectives, my respect for yours remains high. Also, from your passion it is clear to me that, while the analogy failed, we are quite aligned on the core objective: teamwork and leadership are necessary to accelerate performance.
Best wishes –
Craig
Linda, thanks for your comments here. You got me thinking that sometimes I notice some people are ‘way ahead of me’ in seeing the value of an idea or how something could work that would enable better results. I know sometimes I block them because I’m NOT with them – I don’t see it yet. I feel the need to keep up! I’m thinking of my own team – what mindset or focus can I have, what questions can I ask to allow me to support them passing me AND support myself in moving forward as quickly as possible? We won’t be responsive enough if we all have to operate at the same pace. I don’t have the question or mindset for myself today, but I’m thinking about it now because of your comment. Thanks for getting me thinking.
Lisa
Comment*If the blocker truely defines success by the number of “losers” around him, then his best move would be to jump the queue. The only reason he wouldn’t take that “winning” action is he believes there is a high a risk his cohorts in the slow lane would not let them back in line at the merge point; making him worse off. If the group is likely to enforce conformance to a particular behavior (or punish non-conformance) it is because that is the goup’s norm. In other words, as a GROUP, the folks in the slow lane must view the fast lane guy as a cheater, rather than a good executor.
Thanks for your view here Greg – I like seeing your name in lights