This snapshot of the Team—why it is formed and how it functions—is all well and good. However, the formation of an effectively functioning Team requires a movie not a snapshot. This formation usually is best defined as a journey, rather than being an instant arrival at the destination. It is our purpose in preparing this essay to provide some expectations and guidelines about how this journey can best be executed. It is also our purpose to say something about the cast of characters who have assembled as a group and aspire to become a Team. A key feature in the journey from group to Team concerns the diverse perspectives held by these characters. It is this diversity that creates both the potentials for and barriers to effective Team functioning. We begin our description of the journey, therefore, by introducing this cast of characters (the people we work with and ourselves).
The Human Spectrum
We frame the cast of characters who are engaged in the journey from group to Team by introducing a template of three predominant perspectives and practices that guide the way in which each of us engage our world—a template that we call the human spectrum. This spectrum contains the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow.
A Ruby Red perspective and practice is founded on the strong desire to act and produce results. By contrast, an Azure Blue perspective and practice is founded on the strong desire to inspire and nurture. Golden Yellow, which is the third perspective and practice, is founded on the strong desire to be thoughtful and realistic. Each of these perspectives relates to one of what I refer to as the three domains of life.
The Three Domains of Life
How is it that some people embrace Ruby Red, while others embrace Azure Blue, Golden Yellow or some blend of one or more of these three? The source of these three perspectives and practices are the three fundamental domains of life. The first domain is Information. We live in a world and operate in groups and Teams that requires us to be realistic (at least some of the time) and that require us, in turn, to reach out for and interpret information about our world.
A second domain stands at the opposite end of life and the groups and Teams of which we are a member. This is the domain of Intentions. Where do we want to be traveling in our life? What is our purpose and the purpose of the groups and Teams which we have joined? We are likely to wander aimlessly in our world without some sense of desired outcome(s).
Download Article 1K Club
