Bellman/Ryan © 2009 EXTRAORDINARY GROUPS: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results with Kathleen Ryan

Today Your own experience with an amazing group Key concepts from our field study Application of concepts to your role: – Organizational leader – Leader of teams

Bellman/Ryan © 2009 Starting Questions  Why do some groups achieve amazing results while most others do not?  What do extraordinary groups have in common that sorts them from the rest?  How might we create these terrific results more often? 3

What’s Your Experience? 1.When you join or are assigned to a group, what do you hope for? 2.Think of an amazing group experience you have had. Identify three things that enabled that experience to be so memorable. 3.What feelings do you associate with that experience?

Our Field Study  Sixty groups of 2-20, incl. virtual  Work, volunteer, personal life  Self-identified as “amazing”  Interviews with 1-3 members  1.5 to 2 hour phone interviews  Open ended questions and stories Bellman/Ryan ©

An Extraordinary Group… Achieves outstanding results while members, individually or collectively experience a profound shift in how they see their world. Bellman/Ryan ©

Exercise  Find a partner…someone you don’t know  Briefly describe the essence of your experience (2-3 sentences)  Discuss your answers to card #2. What factors do you have in common? Bellman/Ryan ©

8 Eight Performance Indicators 1.Compelling Purpose 2.Shared Leadership 3.Just-Enough Structure 4.Full Engagement 5.Embracing Difference 6.Unexpected Learning 7.Strengthened Relationships 8.Great Results

Bellman/Ryan © Impact of Amazing Group Experiences  70% had great tangible results  Of the groups that sought tangible results, 39% saved or made significant amounts of money  All but two declared great intangible results and being positively changed  Ten people declared the experience “life changing”

Bellman/Ryan © Tangible Results  200 lives saved through reduction of medical errors  Award winning library built  Breakthrough software developed  Micro-credit extended to 100M of the world’s poorest families  Millions $$$ saved  Market share dominated  Championships won by teams of “not brilliant” players  WMD facilities dismantled and equipment safely moved across continents

Bellman/Ryan © Intangible Results  Learned about one’s self  Gained or deepened knowledge/skills  Applied to other parts of life  Built new or strengthened relationships  Increased pride  Heightened self confidence  Greater sense of community

Table Discussion  What organizational benefits would you anticipate from creating more extraordinary groups at work?

Getting Below the Surface  Why do we human beings group?  What is it that motivates us to join with others? Bellman/Ryan ©

Groups in Human History  Thousands of years of living in groups  Survive together, perish alone  Genetically, instinctively informed to group  It’s easy to relate to a group; it’s hard to relate to a large organization  Groups are the way to get things done Bellman/Ryan ©

Bellman/Ryan © Six Group Needs  Accept one’s self while moving toward own Potential  Bond with others while pursuing common Purpose  Understand Reality of their world while making an Impact

Bellman/Ryan ©

We Need to Achieve and Grow ACHIEVEMENTGROWTH Making an IMPACTSelf ACCEPTANCE Accepting REALITYGrowing into POTENTIAL Joining in Common PURPOSE Creating a BOND with others

Exercise: Back to Your Partner  Did any of the six Group Needs show up as important in your outstanding group experiences? If yes, which ones? How did they influence your experience?  Is there a connection between the Group Needs and your answers to card #1? Bellman/Ryan ©

Four Feelings at the Heart of Transformation Energized ! Connected ! Hopeful ! Changed ! Bellman/Ryan ©

Bellman/Ryan © Energized Connected Hopeful Changed

Back to Your Partner  Look at card #3.  What connection do you see between your experiences and the feelings of being:  Hopeful?  Energized?  Connected?  Positively changed?

An Extraordinary Group… Achieves outstanding results while members, individually or collectively experience a profound shift in how they see their world. Bellman/Ryan ©

Getting Below the Surface Bellman/Ryan © Eight Performance Indicators Four Feelings of Transformation

High Performance Behaviors and Techniques Bellman/Ryan © Group Problem Solving Meeting Management Collaborative Decision Making Leadership Strategies Team Development Conflict Management Brainstorming Effective Dialogue and Discussion

Application  Turn to page 209.  Think of a group you lead on a regular basis.  The next time you bring your group together, How might you lead this group differently if you applied any of the core concepts of extraordinary groups? What would you hope would happen? What would you do?

Bellman/Ryan © Life is too short to spend time in groups that do not fulfill their promise. Energized Connected Hopeful Changed

Visit our website,  Weekly Blog  Extraordinary Groups Survey  Other useful materials  Copies of today’s slides Bellman/Ryan ©