Second-year Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens has been able to get the most out of his players by understanding what motivates them and helping them build and maximize their strengths. As one reporter put it, “Instead of biding his time until the front office got him the talent he needed to compete … Stevens decided to help the players he had become the best versions of themselves.”
As business leaders, how do we optimize the abilities of those we lead? Steve Knight, director of COCAbiz, the business training division of COCA, a national leader in arts-based education, believes we can learn from the arts to help people bring their best selves to accomplish shared business goals.
Assistance vs. engagement
Knight points out that there is a difference between helping people get things done and helping people become fully engaged. The latter leads to better ways of doing things and greater joy in our work. The former may simply lead to compliance instead of creative engagement with our most challenging problems and opportunities.
He adds that you are “wasting talent’s potential contribution if you micromanage people.” If you want to engage people’s creativity and energy, have conversations that “push them without micromanaging. That excites them to bring everything they have.”
So what do the arts have to teach us about engaging people in bringing their best? Knight proposes a simple conversational exercise with origins in the visual arts that can free people to contribute their ideas:
I See. I Think. I Wonder.
See: What do you see? (Observable facts)
Think: What do you think about that? (Interpretation)
Wonder: What does it make you wonder? (Suggestion of possibilities)
This conversational structure may be adapted to discuss with one of your leaders what is happening in the business. For example:
See: I’ve noticed that our marketing campaigns have been missing deadlines this quarter.
Think: It makes me think that there are barriers I may not be aware of.
Wonder: I wonder what you think would help.
This is an evidence-based discussion starter (i.e., there is no implied judgment that someone is incompetent or neglectful) that allows the leader to provide perspective (e.g., What does he or she See, Think and Wonder?) and an interpretation of what factors are influencing performance of his or her team.
Of course, this exercise may not work if you haven’t created a safe environment. If people feel safe and valued, it can provide a way for a leader to help them make careful observations and insightful interpretations openly and directly. It helps people contribute to better outcomes. It engages your people as partners in a creative exercise.
Margaret Wheatley has written that, “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.”
Allowing the principles of the arts to connect with business challenges is a way to engage our humanity and gain insights that may not be seen from the vantage point of traditional business practices.
