Article Menu

Tuesday, 14 June 2011 10:17

Say Goodbye to Your Ego

Written by 
Rate this item
(0 votes)

BAtimes_Kupe_6-14The NBA (National Basketball Association) finals are in full swing here in the United States.  If you are at all familiar with the NBA you know the big story all year has been about LeBron James.  He is viewed as the top player of the league, but his leadership is being questioned during this finals series.  In the series it appears he is playing a more supporting role. He is being accused of not being "the man" of the team. Even though as I type, LeBron's team is doing pretty well. This just kills me. Our society, at least here in the US, is obsessed with individual achievements.  The last I checked basketball was a team sport. The goal is not to have the best individual statistics; it is to have a higher score then the other team.  If someone else on the team is stepping up and playing a supporting role will help the team win, then that is what a leader should do.

Unfortunately this individual first behavior is rewarded.  I worked in an organization where we had an employee of the month award. 10 out of 12 awards were given to someone that had to work a ton of overtime and come up with a heroic performance to save the project from failure.  This rewards individual accomplishments over team accomplishments.  This incents people to try and be the hero. In my opinion, if that situation occurs the team should be penalized rather than award the individual.      

In a recent CIO magazine article, "How to End an IT Turf", Cindy Waxer wrote about how the former CIO of Sports Authority stopped the finger pointing and backbiting.  Rob Meilen was looking at his entire organization and realized the teams had competing goals. Individual teams cared more about their accomplishments then the overall accomplishments of the organization as a whole.  In the article Waxer explained how Meilen changed the definition of success. He was quoted as saying, "The message that I was persistent about was that we fail or succeed together. Everything we do involves multiple sets of teams, so discard the illusion that your team could be doing great but the team that sits next to you is messing everything up."

This is the attitude you need to take as an individual on your team. We all work on teams. The goal should never be about individual accomplishments, over successful team accomplishments.  If you are considered the best Business Analyst and your projects still fail, being the best does not mean much.  Egos have no place on teams; individualism is not welcome. If you see yourself pointing fingers and blaming others for project problems, you need to stop and take a look in the mirror.  Ask yourself what you can be doing to help remove the issues.

All for one...one for all,

Kupe

Don't forget to leave your comments below.

Read 5261 times Last modified on Tuesday, 27 March 2012 13:46
Published in Kupe Kupersmith
Kupe Kupersmith

Kupe Kupersmith, President, B2T Training, possesses over 14 years of experience in the business analysis profession. He has served as the lead Business Analyst and Project Manager on projects in the utility, television and sports management and marketing industries. Kupe is a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) through the IIBA. Kupe is a trained improvisational actor and performed for years in clubs around Atlanta.  He is a big believer that we can work and learn while having fun. Kupe is a connector and has a goal in life to meet everyone!

Latest from Kupe Kupersmith

More in this category: « Agile is a Fad Unleash the Business Analysis Profiler in You »

Comments  

 
0 # Marie Salcioglu 2011-06-14 07:31
thank you for this article - it was a great reminder!
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Jody Tay 2011-06-14 07:33
Well-said; I appreciate your thoughts. Imagine ! The world without egos (a la John Lennon)! That would be wonderful. It seems everyone wants recognition and reward for their individual efforts (e.g., recognition programs, going 'above and beyond,' exceeding expectations); it creates a negative competitive environment--no t cooperation or collaboration. Yet where I work, the whole team is penalized (e.g., on annual performance review) if someone on the team makes a mistake, and people are unhappy about that. A balance may be needed where the positive achievements of the team are praised and rewarded, and negative performance issues are addressed with the specific individuals on the team, so that all team members are not penalized for the mistakes. Perhaps with teamwork, both the good (reward for good performance) and the bad (penalty for mistakes, not achieving a quality goal) must be accepted. Thank you.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Lyta April 2011-06-14 07:45
While this is a nice sentiment, it will always be true that unless we change the rewards and recognition systems used in business, we will have egos trumping teamwork as a problem. Performance reviews, salaries, the way we hire, all rewards excessively individual behaviour. By the same token, we do not have good ways of changing, shaming or (gasp!) firing someone for poor behaviour. That person's poor performance festers and brings the whole team down. I wish I had an answer for this, because as a manager, it is very frustrating.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Ravi Pardesi 2011-06-14 10:30
Great Article and I second you on this.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Colin Capon 2011-06-14 13:28
We must recognise that sporting teams are able to get rid of weak performers in order to achieve team success and in the process they use high eprformance coaches to harnass the egos in the right direction. The similarity to a work place is non existent and it is a folloy to expect that we can ignore individual ego for the sake of the common good. People no longer work to achieve success for a company as their main driver - there is no loyalty in the workplace in either direction - therefore they work to survive and further themselves. This is a reality that is dribven by market factors amongst many other things. So whilst it may sound nice, it simply will never occur with humans being humans.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # vergis thomas 2011-06-14 18:37
Although team efforts should be the ultimate goal, it is individual performances that lifts up the team spirit. leadership should look into teams that perform and individuals that perform. What else is the motivation to excel in life?
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-14 20:31
@Jody Tay - I never imagined anyone using John Lennon in a comment to my blog! There is a balance needed. People need motivation for individual and team results. A significant portion of your rewards need to be team based. All either way does not work. @Lyta April - Does anyone ever get fired? You hit on the big problem. It is not necessarily that the good to great performers don't get individual recognition they need, it is low performers still get rewarded. Even if their reward is to still have a job. In my opinion, low performers do need to step up their game or need to move on. This can be changed. It has to change. If it doesn't your left with all the low performers because you can't keep the good ones around. As a manager you have the ability to make it change. Even if it is difficult to fire someone you have to do it when it makes sense. You have to make sure your top performers know you demand quality team effort and that you will push to get the best players on your team.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-14 20:41
@Colin Capon - Our teams are no different than sports teams. In the US, There are many professional teams stuck with crappy players due to contracts. And all there coaches are not that high performing. In business there are many high performing managers as well. I think just shrugging this off is selling us all short. I agree individual achievement is a driver, but we need to push for team goals in line with personal goals in reward systems. People want to survive and advance. That should be based on how their teams perform, not only how they perform. You say this will never happen with human beings being human beings. I think it can happen because we are human beings. Again we are incented to not work as a team. But, most of us want to be part of a high performing team.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Carol Cafazzo 2011-06-14 22:49
The problem with using sports teams as examples of how we should all work is that on sports teams each player has a specific job to do - and very seldom do any of the other players move out of their assigned roles to fill in for the weak link. In football, for example, the Place Kicker is not expected to nor does he just jump in and do the Quarterback's job if the Quarterback is not performing up to snuff. In Corporate America, however, we are all expected to fill in the gaps or pick up where someone else is failing. That just doesn't work -and it does promote "heroism".
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # John Foft 2011-06-14 23:11
As a long-time coach, I can attest to the fact that a team MUST include good coaching. Players must be nurtured, and those who refuse to play within the team concept can find their playing time marginalized by an effective coach. The coach has to be adept at encouraging teamwork (give out the game ball for the best team player) and putting the individuals together effectively. @Colin Capon, I disagree that this is just "humans being human." Most people I know would be happy to play in a team environment given the right direction. John Wooden said: "Loyalty is a cohesive force that forges individuals into a team."
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Paul Mulvey 2011-06-14 23:22
I have been in situations in which functional silos had competing goals - a true recipe for failure.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-14 23:50
@John Foft - Thanks for bringing your thoughts to the group as a coach. @Carol Cafazzo - I disagree. Just like a place kicker would not be asked to be a quarterback, a BA with no development experience would be asked to code. In basketball, the small guys need to guard the tall guys, In football the quarterback will block for a player...that's not their role. Their will be heros, just like in sports with walk off home runs, last minute shots, etc. Herosim should not be the goal. Team success should be the goal and the reward.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Van 2011-06-15 00:12
The difference between coaches and managers is that most senior level managers aren't even watching the game. They are busy with therir own agenda and only hear the recap, which focuses on a few individual plays. If they watched more closely, they would have a greater appreciation for teamwork over ego.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Bennett 2011-06-15 00:50
Excellent article by Kupe, raising the awareness of a crucial issue. A few personal points : 1. I coach some children on hockey (5 yrs). Trying to teach one to pass to another to score, I was taken back by a response from a kid who said " I just want to score goals ". This is the basic primal motivation of the kids. They all want to score, not to pass. 2. In the movie Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman, there is a scene where a basketball player disregards the coach's instructions and start's scoring nets individually, seemingly performing better than the coach's strategy of team play. The coach tears into that player, knowing that when the opposing team realizes this one-man intention of shooting for nets, they will shut him down. So, there is IMO, an innate primeval instinct for selfish individual performances. It is up to the coach, manager, executive leadership to jell the individuals into a high-performanc e winning team.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # j 2011-06-15 01:10
I have to say, I genuinely appreciate and share this idea/sentiment, but have yet to truly experience, or see it implemented on a BA team or project. On my current team/gig, I've attempted several times to proffer suggestions; and continually go out on a limb to bridge the 'ego-gap', but these attempts seem to be in vain. As the comment above points out, until the leaders (all the way up the chain) change their behavior and practices, the ego driven, individualistic , and opportunistic characteristics that seem to plague most projects/places of work, will continue.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-15 01:23
Great comments everyone! I just want to say that this is not easy. We live in a "me" culture so the cards are stacked. But we can't just lay down. @j - don't stop going out on a limb. You know how to make it work...keep at it. It is our responsibility to keep pushing the envelope. Don't just sit there and wait for the right leader. Make the change one team at a time.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Deb Hill 2011-06-15 02:18
Considering that sports analogies are *not* one of my strengths, I'll jump in here anyway :-) Whether on a sports team or a project team, the individual "players" do each have a primary role. In many cases there are overlaps or individuals who can and do play multiple roles ... depending upon the circumstances. For the sports part, consider high school or college teams where one player may be both offense and defense. The key to me is that each player/role understands and appreciates the value contributed by the other roles. No one can do "the job" (win the game, deliver the project) all alone. That said, many of the roles are given "star" status (by individuals/cas ual observers outside of the team or the project)... often the quarterback in football or pitcher in baseball and often the heroic individual (developer, manager, etc) in projects. My favorite sports analogy for the interplay that a BA often experiences is ... the relay race. We all contribute to "winning the race" by being the best at what we do AND by how well we take the handoff from the individual who proceeds us AND by how well we make the handoff to the individual who follows us. Not a perfect, all-encompassin g analogy but effective.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # DRN 2011-06-15 02:49
The team approach works. Learning and implementing the team approach is hard, but that doesn't negate that the approach works.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kelly 2011-06-15 04:33
A great many valid comments have been made for both argumentative sides. I agree with the comments regarding managers, in both directions, because I've seen evidence of both in my 20-ish years experience as a Sr. BA and former MGR. I'm inclined to agree with the negative and contradictory comments when the overall business model is a 'for profit' business. However, my current experience is in a 'non-profit' environment and it has been an extraordinary contradiction in comparison. I'm blessed with a 'coach' who does 'watch the entire game', is aware of the individual hero's, and the supporters. I was in a manager role in my former 'for-profit' business, and I fully understand the difficulty a manager faces when watching the whole game and fighting the urge to step in and micro manage issues when things appear to be going south on a project. One difference I've noticed in the non-profit environment is that teams are 'publicly' rewarded as a team, and 'heros' are only individually rewarded, 'anonomously', when they provide successful mentoring to the supporting members - not when they jump in and take over. The individual anonimity of the heros is most likely the key to the success we achieve as a team because it makes supporting members more receptive to mentoring advice given by the heros and encourages the heros to share thier knowledge and experience. We have lots of heros here, but not so many egos.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-15 05:15
Awesome @Kelly. I just don't know why there would be a difference between Non-profit and for profit. Both have goals they need to achieve. Non-profit needs to do it for less so more goes to the people benefiting and for-profit needs to make sure the company is making money. I know that is simple, but I am not following why teams can work in non profit and not in for profit. Please explain. Thanks
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kent Gregoire | RCL 2011-06-15 23:26
Excellent points and contribution to the subject of ‘ego’ and ‘accountability ’. It’s important to understand that incentives and competition within the same team can lead to protecting-self (ego) versus acting in the best interest of the team or the larger organization. A team of people are brought together because it’s believed that they will each give 100% individually and collectively to achieve success. It’s essential to understand that each person is 100% personally responsible and accountable for the results produced regardless of the outcome. If a basketball player shoots the most hoops and the team still loses --fact is the team lost. The challenge is that most people think in terms of slices of a pie. They think that if there are 5 team members (players) then each person only has 20% personal responsibility and accountability for the success or failure of the team. Not so. Consider, if you were on an operating table. You have a team of 3 people working on you – the doctor, a nurse and an anaesthesiologi st. Do you want each of them to put forth only 33.3% responsibility for their given role or do you want each of them to put forth 100% to ensure a successful outcome? Therefore each person on the team is 100% personally responsible and 100% accountable for the results produced regardless of the outcome. We need to consistently ask ourselves “How much of my success or failure is up to me and how much is up to outside conditions (or circumstances)” . If we answer “100% is up to me and 0% is up to outside conditions”, then we have a high performing mindset.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-16 00:38
@Kent Gregoire - Thanks for chiming in and giving your expert advice in this area.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Carol Cafazzo 2011-06-16 00:46
Just to be clear - I wasn't advocating heroism or saying it should be the goal. I was just saying that, in my experience, it is what is expected.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-16 01:18
I did not think you were. I do believe we need heros. I just don't think a team members mindset should start off with I need to be the hero!
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # worker drone 2011-06-16 02:45
Great article and a concept I can support and get behind fully. Unfortunately I have to echo Carol's comments. If teams were structured a little bit more like a sports team, where everybody has their clearly defined role as a member of the group then the sports analogy works a little better. However in my experience BA roles are often confused, you get many people doing the same thing, and you are often expected to fill in the gaps, As well, I've seen situations where you get BA's trying to play a technical role, and technical people trying to be BA's. This creates more opportunities for the "hero" to stand out in comparison to their peers. I've been the "hero" before and it's not a role I enjoy. For a team to be truly effective everybody has to play their role.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Bharat D 2011-06-16 06:31
Kupe, I would like to share individualistic intent behind practices like "Employee of Month" if followed, in such cases, the team is not working as a unit but bitching each other to get that award and such practices creates an negative atmosphere. Even in such situation the project leads get his work done and project is a success but what he has lost his, "Employee Love for Organization", I like the idea of awarding teams for performance and this could be very well judged by comments added by "Kent Gregoire", Great Example and a classy approach. Cert ain times the Intent "Good Bye Ego", Can Land up one in situation like "Not of Cup of Tea" , it lands you in a situation where you do everything to make a project success but again the "Ego" has to be led down by all else the "Hot Potato" always lands up in hands of "Good Bye Ego". This is really great article and from top to bottom reading the comments, make me feels, that i breathe the air , which is all spread all over the atmos.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Hashim 2011-06-16 22:07
Excellent article Kupe. I totally agree
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Muneet 2011-06-27 16:36
Hi Kupe, Another wonderful article. I intend to completely believe this in spirit. However small disagreement seems that, when delivering big projects involving many different teams, we need to recognize the efforts of the "Hero team" which has done well (and has consistenly done well over last few times) rather than to club them with some other team's laxity in a post mortem confrence call. May be the opinion may change after more experience, but i still blieve "heroism" has to be honoured , if not individuals at least for teams. Regards, M
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Kupe 2011-06-27 22:12
@Muneet - I am not saying remove individual recognition completely. I just feel there needs to be a switch to focus more on team achievements over individual achievements. The hero team you mention should be used as an example and model for other teams. What needs to be stressed with that hero team is how can they help the other teams. They can't sit back and just feel like everyone else needs to catch up. That hero team has the responsibility to help the other teams. Thanks for commenting and adding to the conversation!
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # Naveen 2011-08-09 21:02
I echo what Lyta says
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 

Add comment

back to top