If winning is your business goal, how can you help your team do it?

As you may know by now, I’m a sports fan, generally, and an avid follower of the Golden State Warriors (GSW), specifically. In case you didn’t follow the drama of the 2018 NBA Championships, GSW won. They play like no other team. Indeed, they actually play as a team, something their competition has yet to understand.

“In the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost.”-- Dante Alighieri, “Commedia”

Certainly, you’ve heard of the stereotypical midlife crisis. The new sports car. The traveling. The bucket list. But that “crisis” begins well before you are in your 40s, 50s, 60s, (and for some) 70s.

The nice house, the good job, prestige, a family, even a swelling bank account. These are common pursuits of most, as we begin our adult chapter of our life.

Graphic: Jean-Pierre Weill, The Well of Being 

I ran into this question today from Krishnamurti:

“Suppose you had never read a book, religious or psychological, and you had to find the meaning, the significance of life. How would you set about it? Suppose there were no Masters, no religious organizations, no Buddha, no Christ, and you had to begin from the beginning. How would you set about it?”

Do you on occasion have a kind on ah! hah! or blinding flash of the obvious experience? I had one of these a few weeks past that seemed relevant I should say I am compelled to share. My story or at least my truth of it.

The Golden State Warriors (GSW) are still at it. In the second Western Conference Semifinals playoff game, GSW beat the Utah Jazz 104 - 115. But as discussed in Assists and Collisions Part I: The Golden State Warriors Go Teal, this score is merely an extension of another winning number. Assists. The GSW out-assisted the Jazz 19 – 33. 

If assists help you win, wouldn’t it make sense that its opposite – collisions – would take you the other direction? Here at Beyond Teal these two seemingly disparate words work together quite well. So well, in fact, they have a point of convergence. And that is the place where you want to get your organizational culture.

Assist

noun. An act of helping or giving support to. Help (someone) typically by doing a share of the work.

Collision

noun. An instance of one moving object or person striking against another. In physics: Bodies in which each exerts a force upon the other, causing the exchange of energy or moment. 

Based on these definitions these two words – assist and collision – come from disparate places. Take a moment to step away from stale interpretations and discover that not only do these two words work well with one another but their point of convergence is the place where you want to take your organizational culture. This is the point where you begin to discover the untapped (and often unrecognized) wealth of potential.

Your beliefs become your thoughts, 

Your thoughts become your words, 

Your words become your actions, 

Your actions become your habits, 

Your habits become your values, 

Your values become your destiny.

            --Mahatma Ghandi

These are interesting times, we live in. The validity of science along with the assertions of alternative facts, fake news and vociferous name-calling are common currents in the daily flow of information. Whatever color your political stripes may be — anger, accusations, and regular doses of flagrant self-righteousness are abundant across the citizenry.

The rawness of emotions feels a little disorienting, doesn’t it? Like somehow, we’ve all been transported into a strange, new realm. It should feel disorienting. We’re living a script right out of science fiction.

Here at Beyond Teal tremendous emphasis is placed on joining the conversation around Teal
concepts, strategies, tools, and guiding philosophies. This dialogue comes in many forms: presentations, workshops, focus groups, and even this blog. By the mere virtue of reading these words you have become part of the Teal community.

Today, I am drawing attention to an article published by Valeria Maltoni. For several years, I’ve followed Maltoni’s insights. Virtually every day she spins out probing “conversations” worthy of deep thought.

Recently, Maltoni published a poignant gem entitled “Power of Commitments.” The concept of commitment is central to our “WHY” at Beyond Teal and we recommend you read this piece (it takes about 4 minutes). 

Do you know your cholesterol levels? How about blood sugar? Blood pressure? Weight?

Collectively, these are your biometric numbers and medical professionals urge each and every one of us to know our numbers.

And this has everything to do with your business.

"I'm running late."

This is the slogan of our times.

You don't walk or amble late. You run. And it's not a joyous run. It's a constant, frenetic pursuit of some notion of being "caught up." But caught up to what?  

The world is changing ... rather ... accelerating at a speed and pace that we have never experienced before. Our lives are defined by strains against the clock, technology, politics, and our sense of genuine health and well-being. The notion of predictability and a relaxed confidence in the larger forces of the world feel like quaint notions of a slower time romanticized in history books and our imaginations.