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Monday, 17 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Overview
Moving from independence to interdependence is not moving back to ‘dependence’. It is much deeper and more delightful. Interdependence is important to individuals, interactive teams, institutions, industries as well as independent nations. In fundamentals of management, we come across PESTEL factors, featuring political, economical, social, technical, environmental and legal aspects. Some have gone to the extent of adding one more E to make it PESTEEL with ethical dimension. Whilst being happy about our capabilities we need to harp on our connectivity.
“Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. Without interrelation with society he cannot realise his oneness with the universe or suppress his egotism. His social interdependence enables him to test his faith and to prove himself on the touchstone of reality.” That’s how Mahatma Gandhi viewed interdependence.
Synergy
The primary aspect in interdependence is synergy. Stephen Covey, in his bestseller ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,’ describes synergy as follows: “Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It shows that the relationship, which the parts have to each other, is a part in and of itself. It is not only a part, but also the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting part.”
“Synergy is everywhere in nature,” he goes on further. “If two plants are placed close together for growth, the roots improve the quality of the soil so that both plants will grow better than if they were separated. In short, one plus one equals three or more. The challenge is to apply the principles of creative co-operation, which we learn from nature, in our social interactions…The essence of synergy is to value differences – to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses”. There is much food for thought indeed.
“Probably we never fully credit the interdependence of wild creatures, and their cognisance of the affairs of their own kind,” said Mary Austin, a renowned American author. The way geese fly in ‘V’ shape and the way wolves run as a flock are just two prominent examples.
Symbiosis as the basis
Synergy we see in nature is associated with the complex term symbiosis. It is close and often long-term interaction between two or more different biological species. In other words, a close prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may benefit each member. Way back in 1877, Albert Bernhard Frank used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens. It is also described as the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, or parasitism.
The term “symbiotic relationship” is often used in the area of sociology. The word symbiosis has first been used to describe people living together in a community. It is, in fact, a true adaptation from the biological meaning of “living together of unlike organisms”.
Interdependence through team effectiveness
As we saw, synergy is associated with working together. Teams and groups are often interchangeably used to describe a set of people working together. In perusing through the literature of Organisational Behaviour, veterans like Stephen Robbins and Fred Luthans have identified a group as a set of two or more individuals interacting and interdependent with each other in achieving a common objective. A team is one step ahead. I would simplify a team as a group with synergy.
We can get many examples from the field of sports. Let’s look at cricket, where the next 20 -20 World Cup tournament is looming large. A cricket team is effective if it is consistently winning. What are the contributing factors for team effectiveness? I would propose four Cs in line with Stephen Robins’s recommendations. They are: Combination, Composition, Context and Conduct.
Combination
This refers to work design. Whether the team members are having a set of specified tasks with needed autonomy to carry them out is important. For that to happen, tasks have to be well designed in with the set goals in mind. The team members should identify themselves with the tasks and see the significance of such tasks. In a cricket team, a wicket keeper should know exactly what his role is in order to win a game.
In the game of business, employees should be clear about why they do what they have to do, and how best they should do. A creative writer in an advertising team who has a sense of pride in his/her work with freedom to take decisions is one such example.
Composition
As we know, five fingers of a hand are different yet they are all parts of the same hand. Diversity is a key factor of team effectiveness. Meredith Belbin did a fair amount of research on team roles and came up with nine different team roles. Ensuring that people with appropriate personalities fit to the required tasks is essential in this respect.
Flexibility of team members in moving beyond the specialised tasks for the betterment of team is another important aspect. A specialised bowler of a cricket team should be a good fielder and also a satisfactory batsman. That is all about flexibility. In a business setting, ability to attend a colleague’s duty in case of a need is handy with a true sense of multi-skilling.
Context
There has to be a climate of trust for team work to foster. As the olden saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together”. Scientists say how migrant birds fly as a “V” shape formation to exert lesser energy, by way of thriving of higher aero-dynamic power of it. It is simply, trusting on one another.
Leadership plays a vital role here. The team leader should be able to rally the team around a common vision, and a common set of goals. Vision has to be shared with the team and supported by the team. In the field of cricket, we have seen rise and fall of teams under different leaders. The same is true for business.
Another contextual factor is the availability of resources. True enough that a team cannot have all the resources in the world, or for that matter, all what are nice to have. Optimum level of resources is what should be aimed at. You cannot build great wall without solid bricks and mortar. Waste cutting instead of mere cost cutting is what is pragmatic.
Conduct
This is all about means to the end. Clarity of goals is one key aspect. There should not be any “social loafers” as Stephen Robins call the category of people who are just “passengers”. Every team member should do their best in order to make their team the best team. The Sri Lankan Cricket team who won the world cup in 1996 is one such example.
Conflicts among the team members should be kept at a minimum level. Else, the process will not run smoothly towards the achievement of results. I have seen how ego’s of different team players clash in search of supremacy and dominance. Some find it difficult to give up in order for others to take over. The end result is inevitably a losing team.
Another key process aspect is team efficacy. It is the belief of the team on its ability to achieve the desired results. In the sporting world, the losing teams lack team efficacy. The team that has a high degree of self efficacy can turn a game from the grips of loosing. We saw that happening in many recently concluded one-day cricket series involving Sri Lanka. There are many instances where sales teams of local organisations with high team efficacy have beaten their multinational counterparts.
Moving ahead with interdependence
As Aristotle said a long time ago, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” This applies to interdependence very much. It all should begin with the right positive attitude towards making your team a winning team.
The Sri Lankan corporate sector needs such interdependence more than any other time in converting the rapid economic growth to a more holistic one in being more ethical and effective.
(Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri works at the Postgraduate Institute of Management. He can be reached on [email protected] or
www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)
