Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

I'm thinking about group dynamics.  I'm learning about how I work in groups.

When you are in a great group you know it.  The chemistry is great and everyone brings out the best in each other.  It's really magical. I've been lucky enough to be in several of these kind of groups in my life.  My country band was like that.  The piano teachers at MacPhail were like that when I was there and the teachers from Austin too.  The Twin Cities Suzuki Piano Teachers group has a great team going--I think.

I do the best with big amounts of autonomy.  I'm doing the plant sale for Deerwood Elementary and I'm doing all the leg work myself and then bringing in great people to help as needed. I can take pride and do a really great job, knowing what's expected of me and knowing exactly what I'm responsible for.

I haven't done so great with other teams.  The whole Suzuki Association of Minnesota liaison thing has not been a slam dunk for me.  There are too many cooks in the kitchen and I never felt clear about exactly what I was supposed to be doing and therefore, I don't think I did that great of a job.  I got a check for $100 in the mail yesterday--I didn't even know it was a paid position.  I felt guilty for whining.  However nice the money is, my time is probably worth more than fifty cents an hour. . . see, I'm a little dark on it.  That's my fault.  I didn't work efficiently.

Communication and compromising are not my strengths. That's probably why I'm self employed. I do the best with projects I initiate and follow through.  I'm not afraid of work.  I just want the work to have a direct positive impact and serve a higher purpose.  You know. . . students. . .church. . . school.

I'm also pretty good at just being told what to do--like accompanying the choir.  I'm happy to just show up and play and practice and do my best and not make any decisions. I think I'm good at that too.  It's easy when you respect the leader.

I guess I'm not good at middle management.  Lateral thinking.  It's hard for me to get to know people enough to be myself and communicate well.  I fear I come across tired and grouchy.  Hmmm.  Maybe I am tired and grouchy.

Sometimes it only takes one person to dismantle a group.  Maybe sometimes one person can put it back together.  I'm going to work hard to rise above the personalities of the groups I'm in and focus on the job at hand. Obviously, I'm not involved in any groups that I don't have a vested interest in, so, I do want the groups to be successful.

Calvin doesn't like working in groups either.  I always tell him, if the goal is the perfection of the project you will be frustrated.  If the goal is to work well in the group then you can feel good about others peoples ideas, as well as your own.

Pot meet kettle. It's not exactly the same, but I think I'll start by recommitting to thinking less about how other people are making me feel, and more about bringing out the best in them.  Perhaps that's a little bit of what leadership is all about.