Software for Your Head

PATTERN: CONNECTION

PROBLEM

Others have desirable qualities that you lack, and vice versa.

SOLUTION

Connect before transmission; get close enough to others so that all risk sharing desirable qualities.

The same sloppy practices that degrade the emotional environment (for example, the repression of feelings, tolerance of lack of thinking, and frequent loss of intention) have other pernicious effects:

• Teams cannot decide anything.

• Shared vision is generally neglected.

• Useful feedback is seldom available.

These weaknesses—described in antipatterns throughout this book—have a corrosive effect on team results and negatively affect team durability. Sustained, high-performance, collaborative connection among team members is impossible where such practices ...