Think about an improv theater performance in which the roles and motivations of the characters are poorly defined. That would most likely be a pretty confusing, unproductive performance. But wow, does this happen a lot in business! There are all sorts of reasons why it happens — mergers, acquisitions, regime changes, re-orgs, layoffs and transfers, to name a few. It does not change the fact that it adversely affects performance. Just as in improv theater, our interdependent differences are what make business performances productive.

When the differences in our roles are muddled, when there’s a lot of wiggle room and hazy definition in our responsibilities, when people can hide behind the “We’re all a team here” bromide, we invite the playing of unproductive games like ‘Buffing and Turfing’. (more…)