The elephant in the room, taboos, the great unsaid, the truth nobody wants to hear, burying your head in the sand — there is no shortage of expressions to describe all the factors that silently poison group dynamics. How then to diagnose these undiscussables?
Do team members think what they dare not say? YES, if:
- They show their agreement in public only to complain about decisions in private.
- They display “faint signs” of disagreement: sarcasm, silence, acts of impatience.
- In meetings, they focus more on managing the agenda than on its content.
Do they say they share values but don’t practice them? YES if:
- Meetings are wrapped up quickly and their outlook is unreasonably upbeat.
- They stand firm in the face of adversity to the point where any form of criticism is seen as a lack of loyalty.
- They always take the same view of problems.
Do they have negative feelings that they can’t verbalize? YES if:
- Team meetings are highly charged and disagreements become personal.
- They refuse to give their opinion on subjects that don’t directly concern them.
- Employees are divided into opposing factions.
Are they doing things they are not conscious of? YES if:
- The team struggles to pinpoint the reasons for their poor performance.
- The team spends a lot of time on minor matters.
- The most important topics are constantly postponed.
Got 5 more minutes?
What would it be like to discuss the indiscussable?
Based on « It’s Time to Tackle your Team’s Indiscussables », by Ginka Toegel and Jean-Louis Barsoux, IMD Lausanne, (MITSloan Management Review, 2019) – Published in Business Digest n°303, december 2019.
Based on
« It’s Time to Tackle your Team’s Indiscussables », by Ginka Toegel and Jean-Louis Barsoux IMD Lausanne, (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2019)