“To know that you don’t know is the beginning of knowing.” ~Confucius

It starts with knowing that we don’t know how to see clearly.

You may say: “What do you mean? I can see fine!”

That’s probably true. Most of us are fortunate to be able to see a car on the road and know it’s a car; see a tree outside the window and know it’s a tree; see a pedestrian crossing the street and know it’s a person.

But when it comes to working in teams, there’s always more than meets the eye. How often do we see what’s influencing us?

Things like: our hopes, our fears, and the conditions of our upbringing and life experiences that have shaped the way we see, feel, and think. Even in meetings, invisible commentaries run in our heads: judgments, opinions, assumptions, and beliefs about ourselves and others.

These invisible forces are always present. Because we are thinking, feeling, and sensing beings. The question is: How familiar are we with these interior conditions shaping our decisions and actions?

The ability to see and feel, and make sense of what we see and feel from moment to moment, is a real skill that we can learn, practice, and apply in day-to-day life. But it’s not just about individuals being in touch with their inner space.

From me to we

The quality of this inner space shared in a team opens a door to seeing more, deeper, and broader for understanding obstacles, problems, or a group “stuck” in a larger and clearer context. But moving from a siloed view towards seeing the bigger picture isn’t just about harmony and agreement.

As multiple perspectives and divergent insights come to the surface, disagreements and conflicts often arise. These difficult moments have positive potential to create energy for real change. But if we miss this potential, the differences will fuel confusion and chaos. We feel lost and frustrated.

There’s another way.

• We listen to the differences attentively and engage in open dialogues to learn what wants to come through the uncomfortable and inconvenient data “in the room.”
• Even when it feels like we’re in the fire, we suspend judgments, opinions, and assumptions, to see more clearly and broadly, and understand the greater needs of the team.
• Working in this way, we see new solutions to the right problems that no one person could have found alone.

Building capacity for success

It’s one thing to say “I know all this!” and it’s another thing to actually be good at it. That is why capacity building matters and it’s what business can be best at. Really working organizations provide the learning environment in which people can build real capacities for teams’ success.

Because if you don't have the capacity to make things happen together, you just have an idea. You don't accomplish much. And businesses are pragmatic institutions that survive and thrive based on what they accomplish.

Real businesses need real capacities built with real skills.

Just as we don’t get stronger muscles by asking someone else to lift weights for us, we all have to do our own individual work to strengthen our capacity to see the inner and outer reality clearly. And when we do that work together, we can open up to a whole new field of possibilities, and move forward with the confidence and joy of being human together!

(Photo by Duy Pham)

If you like what you've read, we'd love to hear from you, or sign up for our newsletter to stay in touch.