Orienting the Team

The Commander and the team leader have important roles in orienting the team to the task they are undertaking. One place senior leaders can start is with an explicit, clear statement about both the WHAT and the HOW of the team's work. That is, "what are the team’s objectives? And how is the team going to accomplish those objectives? What products are going to be delivered by the team? What processes will the team use to accomplish their objectives?"

Key Issues and Challenges

There are several factors that may make orienting the team challenging. One is that the team leader needs to provide the team with some direction about how to make sense of the problem and engage in problem solving activities without defining or prescribing a set of processes the team should follow. The difference is between providing guidance versus providing rules. While it is important to avoid dictating what the process should be, the team needs some awareness of how the team’s activities are likely to unfold.

“We didn’t know what problem we were solving… except we knew we needed to develop a strategy-- one that was comprehensive and cohesive...”

(U.S. Army COL)

Another challenge when orienting the team is understanding that there are a variety of practical considerations that may impinge on the team’s work. For example, the team needs to produce something within certain deadlines. Work will have to be completed with time, personnel, materials, equipment, and information constraints. Furthermore, what the team ultimately produces has to be useful to people outside the team. It is not enough for the product to make sense to the team members. The product has to have value and utility to key stakeholders (e.g., the Commander and other senior leaders). It is important to balance the team’s recognition of these constraints against the team’s needs for space and time to think deeply about the problem they are there to address.

"Talking about 'design' strictly still has stigma associated with it... you can get away with saying: we’re going to do 'problem framing' I don’t put a 'hey were going to have a design session' on a calendar invite."

(U.S. Army LTC)

Finally, there is the challenge of figuring out what terminology to use to describe the team’s activity. There has been considerable debate within the Army and across Services about design and/or Army Design Methodology (ADM). ADM is “a methodology for applying critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe problems and approaches to solving them” (ADRP 5-0, p. 2-4), and was recently incorporated into Army doctrine. For a variety of reasons (some well-founded, some perhaps not), many members of the Army and Joint services have negative impressions of ADM as elitist and/or simply confusing. For this reason, using the terms “design” or “Army Design Methodology” may have an unintended consequence and may create resistance among some team members and potentially among external stakeholders.

Tips and Things to Consider

The following set of strategies are practices that team leaders may want to consider in order to set team expectations and orient the team to its task.

(Expand All)

Consider using alternative labels for the activity (Expand)

While some refer to the activity as “Design” or “Army Design Methodology” (the doctrinal terms), leaders of planning teams in operational contexts have framed their teams’ activities using a variety of expressions, including:

Conceptual planning
Problem definition
Complex problem solving
Framing activity/framing session
Getting our arms around the problem
Visioning
Thinking critically and creatively

Concept development
Framework creation
Big picture thinking
Problem framing
Collective sensemaking
Questioning fundamental assumptions

Clearly articulate the team’s objective(s) (Expand)

The team’s task is an ambiguous one; there will be an abundance of uncertainty to manage. Providing the team with a general sense of the team’s goal can help the team manage the uncertainty it will be facing in the activity itself. Some of the ways team leaders have expressed the team’s goal include:

To learn about [fill in the blank]
To provide senior leadership with different lenses for viewing a problem or situation
To answer “What are we going to do about [insert region]? Or, How did [insert] happen?”
To provide the Commander with “alternative realities” that he can use to examine the operational environment
To orient the Commander to the environment…provide the team’s assessment of environment…and the team’s recommendations in order to allow him to move to a decision more quickly

"Most of the team enjoyed the certainty I provided for them by explaining what we were doing, and what I needed them to accomplish."

(U.S. Army MAJ)

Consider developing a “charter” document (Expand)

Consider developing a “charter” document to capture the team’s goals and to promote shared understanding between the Commander and the team. The charter can include several components including background, team goals, resources, schedule, methodology, and initial set of issues or topics to consider. The charter can serve as a common-grounding mechanism between the Commander and the team.

A start-up charter document can include the following elements:
- Background: History that created the need for the team; condition or situation requiring attention; current trends that affect or will affect the situation.
- How Project Statement: Succint, operationally worded outline of what the effort is intended to achieve.
- How Goals: General intent; existing goals to be supported.
- How Resources: Physical resources to be employed; human resources that can be called upon.
- How Schedule: Schedule for the team effort, including phases, mile stones, and gateways (i.e. go/no-go reviews by the Commander).
- How Methodology: Planning processes, methods or tools to be used.
- How Issues: Starter set of issue topics expected to be important to the effort; questions for consideration for each topic

Consider providing a process outline (Expand)

Unless everyone on the team has been trained in a specific conceptual planning methodology, there will likely be a lot of “wheel spinning” in getting started. While the team leader will want to avoid providing too much structure, there can be significant value in providing the team with a general process they can expect to follow.

Describe the “anti-goals” and what the activity is NOT (Expand)

Consider differentiating the activity the team will be doing from traditional methods of planning and problem solving. While some members of the team may have been exposed to (or trained in) non-linear approaches to problem-framing and problem-solving, it is likely that there are members of the team who are more accustomed to using analytic tools and procedures such as Troop Leading Procedures (TLP), the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), and the Joint Operation Planning Process (JOPP). Consider contrasting the team’s task with planning approaches that are more analytic and linear in nature. Help the team to understand that this activity is not MDMP, JOPP, or TLP. Rather, the activity is intentionally a different way of thinking about the problem space.

“All I could articulate was what we weren’t going to do, not what we were going to do.”

(U.S. Army MG)

Provide examples of other complex problems or situations (Expand)

Team leaders or members can offer examples of other complex problems that different planning teams have been asked to tackle using holistic, non-linear approaches. For example, some of the problems teams have sought to make sense of and figure out approaches for addressing include:
- How do we effectively draw down troops in Afghanistan in a way that preserves security of our forces and the nation’s citizens?
- How can we get water and other supplies into Haiti after the earthquake has damaged the country’s infrastructure?
- How do we transition from a military-led mission to a civilian-led mission in Iraq?

Provide a reading list (Expand)

The reading list should expose the team to key practices, work processes, and problem-solving approaches that are to be encouraged within the team. Some topics might include holistic/integrative thinking, critical thinking, nonlinear and creative thinking, reflective practice, and design thinking. (Suggested Reading)

Define team member roles (Expand)

Help team members define and understand their own and others’ roles in the team. Team roles and functions can be explored through exercises, or by asking team members to reflect on these questions: How do you view your role on the team? What skills or experiences do you bring to that role? Each team member can share his/her view, and then discuss how their responses align with how the team leader and other team members view their role.

Develop ground rules for team interaction and discourse (Expand)

Work together as a team to develop a set of ground rules. Document and post the team’s ground rules as a reminder to the group. Everyone on the team should be able to nominate new ground rules for inclusion or to remind one another of established ground rules.

Help the team prepare for likely challenges (Expand)

Prepare the team for the challenges they are likely to experience in the course of working together on a complex, unfamiliar problem set. Explain that it is not unusual for teams to experience periods of significant ambiguity and confusion. One team leader described these periods as “the dark night of the soul” or “the muddy ditch” that all conceptual planning teams experience at some point. He added that he reminds his teams that confusion can be informative and a sign of progress, and that confusion provides an impetus for additional learning.

"If I were going to do this again, I’d be prepared to articulate and show examples of chaos, disorganization, of confusion and say: we’re going to go through a period of chaos and confusion."

(U.S. Army MG)

Some of the strategies team leaders have used to prepare their team for the probable moments of confusion and frustration include:

Provide images or illustrations (Expand)

Provide images or illustrations that depict ambiguity, confusion, or the “fuzzy front end” of problem definition while describing the activity the team is undertaking (Example Images).

Tell the team to expect confusion (Expand)

Describe the confusion and disorientation that can occur when working on complex, unfamiliar problems. Let the team know there will be times when their understanding of the problem seems to fall apart, and when members feel as though they are making little progress. Also note that these confusing moments can be an exciting time where significant learning happens and novel insights are achieved. Setting this expectation can help prepare team members and provide re-assurance when team members find themselves in that “muddy ditch.”

Present examples and analogies (Expand)

For example, one strategic-level team leader described the following analogy of a house that he often uses with his teams:

“When we set out to build a dream house, we think about how and what we want it to include, where it will be, and so forth. Then plans are rendered, we begin to envision what it’s going to look like, begin to budget, and build a timeline. Then we break ground. For a short time, our dream home is a muddy ditch in the ground. There is no escaping the fact that for a period of time, the project is a muddy ditch. The muddy ditch is a sign of progress, not a sign of failure. It means we’re going in the right direction. Every project reaches that phase of the muddy ditch -- seems like we’re confused, we’re overwhelmed. We need to understand that the next step will be to clarify things. There’s a leap of faith involved there.”

Consider showing a video (Expand)

Consider showing a video that depicts the iterative - and often frustrating - nature of defining and solving problems. The video analogy can reflect a different domain and problem set; the important part is that it should illustrate the iterative nature of framing and solving problems as a team, including identifying the need for external SMEs at various points throughout the problem-solving process (Example Video).

Tools and Resources

This section provides a set of tools and resources that planning teams may find helpful for preparing the team to work together and for doing the work itself. The tools and resources are organized around the following topic areas: 1) exercises to prepare the team to work together, 2) exercises and videos for preparing the mental workspace, 3) assessment tools, and 4) suggested reading.

Exercises to Prepare the Team to Work Together

Background Exploration Exercise (Storytelling) [PDF]
Description: Allows team members to better understand what each individual brings to the team by sharing personal experiences and backgrounds with the team.

Broken Squares Exercise [PDF]
Description: Gives insight into how each individual team member tends to look at situations and solve problems.

Engaging Everyone – Liberating Structures [PDF]
Description: A handbook containing a range of exercises including ice breakers, physical space suggestions, creative thinking techniques, question asking techniques, and approaches for improving interpersonal and team communication.

Team Role Experience and Orientation (TREO) Instructor’s Guide [PDF] and Survey [PDF]
Description: A teamwork style survey developed by the Army Research Institute (ARI). Designed to help teams and team members examine their preferences and how they typically work in a team.

Exercises and Videos for Preparing the Mental Workspace

Visual Explorer Images
Description: Images available for purchase through The Center for Creative Leadership website useful for a variety of creative thinking exercises.

Everyday Creativity Exercise [PDF]
Description: Exercise to help team members recognize where and how their creativity is being expressed in everyday life, so they can then apply that way of thinking and being to their work.

When There is a Correct Answer - Exercise in Creative Thinking
Description: Believing that there is a correct answer can dampen creativity. Video shows an experiment with third grade students.

Tales of Creativity and Play
Description: TED talk by designer and IDEO CEO, Tim Brown. He describes the relationship between creative thinking and play.

David Kelley: How to Build Your Creative Confidence
Description: TED talk by David Kelley – President of IDEO. He argues that creativity is not for a chosen few; everyone has creative potential.

Assessment Tools

Strategic Thinking Questionnaire
Description: Measures a person’s ability to think strategically. Reveals an individual test takers use of three mental processing skills: reflection, reframing, and systems thinking.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®)
Description: Questionnaire to measure psychological “types” – i.e., how one perceives the world and makes decisions.

MBTI® Complete
Description: Online tool that does not require a certified individual.

Clifton StrengthsFinder
Description: Assessment test to uncover one’s personal strengths.

The Cognitive-Style Inventory [PDF]
Description: Assessment to identify cognitive styles and help to anticipate benefits and drawbacks for each.

MAKING SENSE OF COMPLEX PROBLEMS