Employing Differences Karen Gimnig & Paul Tevis

"Sometimes there are actual consequences that do need to go along when things go wrong, but it's far less often than we actually seem to think when somebody is saying there needs to be more accountability." Paul & Karen discuss what do to when we did have shared expectations about what we needed to do, but we still didn't get the results we wanted.This is the second of a two-part series that started with Episode 213.

"The statement 'We need more accountability' usually comes up when we've deviated in some way from our perfect idea of how we're going to work together. Which is to say, we start with this shared understanding of what it is we're all each individually going to do and deliver and who's going to do, you know, what by when and how well sorts of things."Karen & Paul discuss techniques for setting expectations for interdependent work.This is the first of a two-part series that concludes with E...

"For this particular decision, how aligned do we all need to be around it in order for the decision to be effective? In order for the idea that we're trying to move forward to really move into reality? Because that threshold of alignment varies with the type of thing that we're trying to do." Paul & Karen talk about helping a group converge on decisions.This is the finale of a three-part series that also contains Episodes 210 and 211.

"That's where the actual solutions to your complex problems are: in the things that we disagree about, that we want to run away from because other people's ideas or perspectives are so different from the ones that we have. We can't just look at them and go, "Okay, fine, whatever," and move on. We actually need to come to understand them – because that's where durable solutions to complex problems actually come from." Karen & Paul share advice for supporting a group in seeking out and expl...

"Whatever that thing is, we're bringing our own flavor to it, and we don't realize that we're painting it. A lot of that flavor painting is unconscious. And so it's not that I think I'm sneaking my way in, or you think you're sneaking your way in. It's that we don't notice how much of our own kind of criteria or condition that we have on it in our own mind." Paul & Karen discuss things that predictably happen when we start working together to make an idea a reality.This is the beginning o...

"We often say, 'Who's willing to do this?' And we wait awkwardly for someone to raise their hand. Willingness matters, but it is not the only concern that we have." Karen & Paul share techniques and advice for filling roles within a group.