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Last week, I was able to sit down with Daniel Wolf, President and CEO of Dewar Sloan and author of Strategic Teams and Development: The Fieldbook for People Making Strategy Happen. During our talk, I learned all about what makes up a strategic team and how we can implement them effectively. This book is so rich and we weren’t able to cover it all, so go pick up a copy for yourself to dig deeper. You won’t regret it.
Defining Terms: What is a Strategic Team?
I thought we’d start the conversation by defining strategic teams. Dan told me that there are twenty kinds of teams, but that his definition of strategic teams comes down to this: “they are structures that enable and support people to drive results, progress, and business evolution.” And even though it might have seemed like he was restating the obvious, he added that strategic teams don’t focus on the work that needs to be done by teams in general, “but it’s the work […] that drives growth, performance, and change.” In other words, when using the term “strategic team,” we’re not referring to teams that are assembled to complete everyday tasks.
The Six Talent Blocks
Dan explained that people approach their work roles with some kind of talent. Dan refers to these as “talent blocks.”
- Technical Talent: bringing to the table specific knowledge or expertise.
- Analytic Talent: derived largely from the understanding of data and data patterns.
- Creative Talent: coming up with, managing, and dealing with ideas.
- Resource Talent: managing time, budgets, and calendars.
- Talent Five: preventing, intercepting, solving, mitigating, and recovering from problems.
- Relational Talent: getting along with one another and bringing out the best in each other.
These talent blocks, according to Dan, are the heart of a person’s motivation. He added, “But I think what also motivates them is how they’re engaged to do the work of their job.”
Speaking of Engagement
What engages people? According to Dan, people are motivated by purposeful, meaningful work and by having the tools and resources to conduct that work effectively. They are also more likely to stay engaged when surrounded by good colleagues and strong company culture and when they actualize a sense of their own personal and professional development. These factors “keep [people] in the game.”
Strategic Teams: How to Ensure Success
I was curious. What would a strategic team need from either leadership or the entire organization to make sure that it’s set up for success?
Dan confidently responded: “I think three things. First of all, members of that team — and the team as a whole — must agree that they are working on some piece of the organization’s strategic agenda, so they have to be engaged in what it is that the company wants to be delivered. That might be growth, it might be change, or it might be performance.
Second, they have to be designed as a group for the “what” and the “how” and the “when” of the work to be done. This is where talent blocks come into play. In other words, “you can’t just collect your golf buddies and your bar friends” and call that a team. Instead, a strategic team is made up of individuals who are cast into their roles and compliment one another so that they can deliver something together.
Third, Dan noted the importance of a sense of ownership among the members of a strategic team. Members must feel a part of something greater, and the culture of the company must fuel these members to move forward together, owning the process and the results of their collective work.
The Core of the Strategic Team Building Model
I wanted to understand what factor (or factors) is at the center of this team-building model and whether it is tangible or intangible. Dan explained that the core of this concept is “an approach to value creation.”
Of course, most organizations exist to create value — profitability, competition, and customer service are all goals relevant to this ultimate mission — and value creation is “powered by talent and backed by a cultural agenda with that foundation-expression combination” that is so important.
So, at the core of this model, you’ll find all members of a strategic team approaching this work as agents of the strategic agenda of their organization. “We are parts of making that strategy happen. Strategy isn’t something on the wall in the kitchen or the cafeteria. Strategy is what we come to do in our jobs every day. We’re pieces of that equation, and I don’t mean small pieces.”
Identifying and Avoiding Landmines
Next, we started talking about typical landmines that strategic teams can expect to encounter. Dan believes that teams get drawn off course “by a handful of things that are completely predictable,” one being lack of confidence about their charter. Teams should really “get what they’re there to do” because if they don’t know where they’re headed from the start, they certainly won’t get there. And this comes down to a lack of communication and a lack of leadership.
Another challenge is conflicting goals and intentions. Of course, it’s common for things to change, but if the team doesn’t receive clear communication from leadership about changes in goals, it’s tough to be successful. One of many results can be conflict between team members.
Diversity Among Team Members
We moved on to another topic: the importance of diversity in strategic teams. “Diversity counts and diversity counts everywhere.” Dan added that strategic teams function effectively when they involve diverse people because their “perspectives, background, experience, worldview, and mindset are a reflection of their different social and cultural histories.”
He continued, “There are cognitive and intellectual biases and mysteries and capabilities, gender and generational differences, and personal and identity differences.” And these differences allow a team to “move the needles” in different ways.
For More Info on Dan Wolf and Strategic Teams
Wow. We covered a lot of valuable information in this podcast interview. Remember: this article only touches on parts of our more in-depth conversation. If you’d like to hear more about the ideal size and roles in a strategic team, then give the interview a listen HERE and go pick up Dan Wolf’s book, Strategic Teams and Development: The Fieldbook for People Making Strategy Happen.
Listen to the full interview: