Poet James Whitcomb Riley gave us the amusing yet reliably true phrase “"If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck". This common-sense approach highlights that sometimes it is easier to define something in terms of characteristics or behaviors, instead of a declared or defined type.
And so we get to the interesting question of just what is, or is not, a high performing team.
Tara and I were in Savannah this weekend, enjoying a really special experience at the chef’s counter in a well-known restaurant in the city. From our vantage point, we got to watch the whole kitchen team, including the executive chef plus his team of at least 4 other chefs, prepare food for all the restaurant’s guests. Along the way, we were treated to a blind tasting menu of 5 delicious courses that were interesting blends of flavors, beautifully presented, and chosen for us by that same team. It was a truly delightful culinary experience.
While the food itself was delicious and absolutely top-notch, it’s not what made the experience really memorable. Instead, it was the chance to watch the kitchen team work together that left us both really impressed. They effortlessly coped with the ebb and flow of work in each moment, supporting each other, communicating clearly, and turning out beautiful dish after beautiful dish. All while sharing jokes and smiling. Kitchen work is hard work, and so the fact that they enjoyed doing this together was a privilege to observe. Our conversation about this had us both using the term “High Performing Team”.
During a recent engagement with QxP, while working at a client’s site, one of our key contacts for the client described the QxP team as a high performing team. The ensuing discussion had us talking about what a high performing team does, and how it behaves. We talked about skill, and collaboration, and shared goals and yes, fun. As it turns out, these are all the same characteristics of this wonderful kitchen staff in Savannah.
It turns out that like Riley’s duck, we can describe high performing teams in terms of characteristics, but we struggle to classify further.
So, what can we get from this? It’s clear to me that technical skill is essential, but not sufficient. Communication, shared commitment to goals and a desire to achieve success together are also required. Patrick Lencioni, in his best-seller “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” tells us that commitment to the team’s goals must come before even personal interests if we want to experience truly superb teamwork.
And so, I am reminded yet again of what it takes to be part of a high performing team, and that such teams can be found in all areas where humans work together. I’m reminded of the need for this commitment as a consultant, serving my client’s goals and objectives, and I’m obliged to ask myself how well I live Lencioni’s lesson about the team’s goal coming first. How do the teams you work in relate to this principle?
When you’re choosing teams members and consultants to work on your most critical projects, remember that technical skill is necessary but not sufficient. Look for behavioral evidence of commitment to the goal as a key selection criterion.
Mark Roache, QxP VP of Cell and Gene Therapies, has spent his 30-plus year career in GXP. Mark was the Chief Quality Officer for AveXis (now Novartis Gene Therapies) at the time of Zolgensma launch. He was previously Senior VP of Quality for KBI (a CDMO with cell-therapy capabilities) and has held other senior Quality roles at Novartis, Merck and Bayer.
