Category: Ken’s Blog

Theseus’ Paradox, Leadership and Team Building

How do you convince someone to follow you?

What traits would a leader need to have to convince others to follow him or her?

To answer the “how do I convince others to follow me?” question I can think of no better way to find the answer than to  explore a thought experiment featuring the ship of Theseus.  

To adequately capture the spirit of this explanation we must go back in time to my days at Laurier University circa 1986, for a little Philosophy 101 debate!

Professor Rocky Jacobsen stared out at a room full of first year freshmen, similar to the way Donald Sutherland looked upon his class in the cult classic movie, Animal House.

Like the class in Animal House, most of us were a little hungover at best.  A Friday morning Philosophy 101 session was considered a bird class.  The only real challenge was the actual waking up and getting to class part of the deal.  If you can get to class you are pretty well guaranteed a passing grade.

Okay, so Theseus or to be precise the Theseus Paradox was introduced to induce debate.  Rocky was a big fan of having the class pro-actively defend their positions and Theseus triggered plenty of debate.  Truth is, it was all part of his wanting us to discover our freshmen voice and to take a position knowing a series of contrasting views made for a valuable educational experience.  

Theseus Paradox 101

Theseus is remembered in Greek mythology as the slayer of the Minotaur.  For years, the Athenians had been sending sacrifices to be given to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull beast who inhabited the labyrinth of Knossos.  One year, Theseus braved the labyrinth, and killed the Minotaur.  The ship in which he returned was long preserved.  As parts of the ship needed repair, it was rebuilt plank by plank.

Here comes the paradox. 

Rocky asked the following question…”If Theseus sails his ship from port A to port B and every piece of the ship had been replaced by an identical piece, is it the same ship?”.

Well, the classroom lit up and the healthy debate began.  Is it the same ship? Yes?  No?  Maybe so?  Why? Why not?  How does one define “same”?

Rocky played the role of traffic cop in the middle of a jammed roundabout as the battle of undergraduate minds took place. The room was immediately charged with energy!

Some built an argument around physics and how no two items are exactly the same hence it was not the same ship.  

Some argued that one ship left port A and one ship arrived at port B making it one ship. 

I watched the energy rise from the periphery.  In part because I really had nothing to contribute as it relates to the debate. 

Yet, among the cacophony of voices I realized two things. 

One…Rocky was a genius.  He captured the hearts and minds of an entire class with one question.  For the first time in the fall term, I was learning something of value and thought provoking in university. 

Second, and far more important, I realized I looked at the entire argument from a completely different perspective.  It was likely connected to my football experience and needing to know the coach had a well thought out, prepared plan set up to help us succeed.  He was calling plays but it was me getting hit by the heat seeking missiles on the field. 

From my perspective, forget the ship!  The key is the captain.  The key is Theseus. 

The mission in itself was life threatening to say the least. The mission message would magnify or minimize the associated fear. 

“Lads, listen up. Can I have your attention?   So, we are going to set sail and before we hit land, I want us to replace every piece of the ship.  The journey is perilous and we could sink and die a brutal death but I think we can do it! Are you with me?  Yes or no?”

Wow, what type of pregame speech did he have in his treasure chest to convince his crew to sign on for this adventure?  How prepared would he have to be when asked the inevitable what, when, where, who, why and how questions?

How did Theseus get his team to buy in?   There had to have been a history of trust, transparency, communication and collaboration for everyone to buy in.  There had to have been a record of success forged from previous challenging situations within the group.  Maybe a handful didn’t care about the message. They just needed the gig to get paid some much needed silver.

When Theseus introduces the mission I am assuming there would have been a split audience. 

Let’s assume for argument’s sake that he has 30 sailors.   

Cast of 30

Say 12 sailors sign up, no questions asked.  They have been through many harrowing experiences and Theseus has not let them down. 

Then there are 11 who need some more information.  “Okay, I am kind of digging your idea but I need more info?”.  They need to know the what, when, where, who and why associated with the mission.  Eventually, they are all convinced to travel the 7 seas with Theseus. 

There are 8 left and 5 of them need some more convincing. Not from Theseus but from the senior sailors. The more experienced sailors. Once they are convinced, Theseus now has 27 of his original team of 30 sailors on board. The remaining 3 opt to stay in the tavern and nurse their beer! 

Does Theseus leave port down 3 sailors? Of course not. The word is out that Theseus is hiring, he is a great captain, his senior sailors believe in him and the mission and there is no way all of those experienced sailors would take on a doomed mission. So, there are 12 sailors hoping to get on board to make some shekels and to experience the leadership of Theseus.

 

Leadership rests upon 4 elements.

Connect, Communicate, Collaborate, Compete to Conquer 

 

Connect is the first step in the process because it allows you to set the tone in terms of how the relationship will begin and what direction it will take. First impressions are everything.  Getting off on the right foot is key.  Be authentic. 

Communicate is step number two.  Let’s lay our cards on the table and begin a dialogue.  We may not like everything we hear but we need to hear it so you can build a convincing strategy that will answer everyone’s questions. By communicating, everyone can get a real sense of investment.

Collaborate is an opportunity for the team to address and hopefully answer some questions that the captain does not have an answer for. 

This is the problem solving stage.  It the “I am okay with sailing with you but I think I can bring something to the plan that will help the entire group succeed.  Collaboration leads to consensus which is a pillar in team building.

Collaboration leads to the Compete phase.  A plan is in place. The plan is not etched in stone because there are unpredictable variables that are in play. What if it rains?  What if we get attacked by a pirate ship?  What if the crew suffers from scurvy?  The mission stays in place but the navigation and mapping is open to change. If you anticipate a journey that takes you on a straight line from point A to point B…you are kidding yourself. 

The process of communicating and collaborating will continue until the goal is reached. Like the sea…there will be many ebbs and flows within the journey.  It may mean going back to the drawing board and re-working the problems. It may mean creating a plan B, C or D.  Being married to a plan has been the Achilles heel for so many teams. Don’t let ego get in the way of evolution!  

Evolution is growth. Being married to a plan with no room for change represents red flags for the team.

Being married to the goal and be willing to work the plan is the key to any team’s success. 

Share the what, when, where, who and why and I may sail with you! 

Ken Evraire is a quintessential team player who loves coaching, team building and talking leadership!  He is grateful for the opportunity to work with a roster of fantastic clients ranging from the government sector, not for profit agencies, start ups, Fortune 500 companies and elite sports teams.

He is father to 3 precocious children, a former professional football player that has since donated his brain. He has run 3x marathons (Honolulu 2x + Barcelona), done stand up comedy and believes the old school coach was wrong…there is indeed an “i” in Team! 

Check Ken out on the following social media pages…

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-evraire-leadership/

Twitter https://twitter.com/kevraire17   

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kenevrairedotcom/ 

 

 

 

 

 

Pendulum of Possibility – The Power of Being Decisive

What is the most valuable commodity we all share? I ask this question at the outset of each of my presentations be it a team leading focus project or a career transitions initiative.  Some say its health, some say its family and friends.

Both are great answers but at the end of the day the most valuable commodity we all share is time. Our time…my time, your time…time! How do you choose to spend your time? What do you want to accomplish with the time you have?  Do you live in the moment? Do you live looking back through your rear view mirror wishing you had done something different when you had the chance? Do you spend your time convinced that time is on your side and that what can get done today can wait until tomorrow?

Knowing we have no guaranteed allotment of time it would make sense that we do our best to draw as much out of the time we do have but as you know it just doesn’t happen that way. As a result, far too many people look back on the things they wished they had done than the things they did accomplish. We spend a lot of time idolizing others believing that when they were born, the clouds opened up and a higher power simply declared them as destined for greatness but it just doesn’t work that way. A decision is made followed by another and another. I doesn’t matter if its a Fortune 500 executive, a left-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees or the first violinist in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A decision to be great is made and that decision is made knowing that other great decisions moving forward are required.

The reality is the Pendulum of Possibility is constantly in motion. For every decision you make be it a pro-active decision or an inactive one…a decision is being made and a navigational change occurs.

Dr. Sharon Melnick touches on this very foundation of thought in her Build Fast Confidence YouTube video. Build Fast Confidence – Dr. Sharon Melnick . I really enjoyed the assertion that we have on average 60,000 thoughts per day and that a shift in how we recognize and respond to those thoughts can act as a vehicle of positive change.

As a former professional athlete I learned that an “in the now” awareness was key to any and all success. Each and every play on the football field represented a potential transitional moment. The game could turn in a direction each and every time the football was snapped. When things go awry the entire focus cannot be on the play that went south because there is nothing you can do about it. The focus turns on getting back on track. The focus turns on a conscious navigational decision that gets you back on course. It doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul of the playbook but rather a simple decision to let go of the negative and make positive decision making a habit forming skill.

Time is only on your side when you do all that you can to control it. It can be your moment but ownership can be fleeting if you are not consistent in your decision making. By being consistent you can define and re-define who you are and the direction of your journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leadership and the Average Employee

I read a blog on the Canada Human Resources Centre site about three distinct categories that job seekers are broken into and the groupings made complete sense. There is group 1- the top performers, group 2 – the average performers and group 3 – the low performers. What struck me as interesting is that the top performers made up 16% of the population, low performers also made up another 16% and the average performers made up a whopping 68% of the audience. (http://www.canadahrcentre.com/base/finding-top-talent-among-majority-of-average-performers/)

Initially, I understood that it would be tough for employers to find the top performers and I also understood the need to avoid the below average performers. So, the search for the right candidate would center on the large body of average performers. So far it made complete sense to me.

What turned my compass askew was the suggested solution.

The blog forwarded the notion that somehow and someway the HR teams had to sort through the average performers to find the best of the average performers. This struck me as odd. The onus was being put on the employee to be above average without any thought of taking the average employee and working to make them top performers. The margin between an average employee and an above average employee could not be that great. Why spend time splitting hairs.

Now, I get the need for due diligence as it relates to hiring a new CEO. The financial investment associated with finding a new leader is usually far greater than that of a standard employee search. The hiring of the wrong CEO could be disastrous but the hiring of the wrong technician likely has little to no effect.

Yet, how do you find the best of the average group in an expeditious and cost-effective manner? The fact of the matter is you don’t. It is an imperfect process. How many times have you heard an HR Director say “We really lucked out finding her” or “I can’t believe we found him”? Finding the perfect employee can be a crapshoot on the best of days.

So perhaps the search for the best of the average is not the way to go. Perhaps the focus should be on creating an environment that supports growth.

I coach football and on a number of occasions I have had player’s tryout and coaches on my staff inform me that the kid though talented is un-coachable. The natural reaction is to red flag the athlete. His margin for error would be slim. He would be forced to work under that added pressure, fear making mistakes rather than simply go out and compete in an instinctual manner and as a result he would likely fail.

My first thought when being told about an un-coachable kid is…”Who coached him?” Maybe just maybe the player did not flourish under another coach because the system did not fit, his skills were not being utilized properly or he was not put in a position to succeed? Maybe there was a reason why he was average and not a top performer?

If I judged him based on his past I would have been no better than his previous coach. It’s akin to a kid showing up for the first day of school with a mark of C- without doing any work. Now, he may be un-coachable. As the leader of the team, the onus is on me to find out. As a leader, I choose to coach him up.

So, perhaps the focus should be on creating a culture that cultivates success, is cognizant of the importance of the invested individual and celebrates their work.

Average employees will remain average unless you create the opportunity to turn them into top performers and that responsibility falls on the shoulders of leadership. The common denominator that links all CEO’s with each and every staff member is the valuation of time. Everyone gets up and goes to work. Some work in the mailroom, some work in the corner office on the top floor. When the day ends, each and every one of them would like to believe they are part of something. Something that justifies their spending their time and energy on, something that goes beyond salaries and benefits!

A power with people leadership approach will turn average employees into top performers. Leadership isn’t a title. It’s an active, organic, ever changing responsibility that requires a genuine, honest effort. Contrary to what many coaches have trumpeted through the years, there is an “I” in Team and each individual requires a tailored coaching effort. Is it tough to do? It sure is. Yet, anything worth anything requires an effort! At the end of the day, you turn the average into great and you attract the great. It’s a win-win situation.

The Football Player and Explosives Specialist

I had a neighbor who may have the most interesting and in the same breath, the most unwanted career ever. No, he is not a judge on The Voice!

Of the top 5 gigs that you run to Babylon and back rather than pursue…his not only ranks in the top 5 it may also make up the top 5!

He is a bomb disposal specialist.  That’s right. So essentially, when sane people run from the mere hint of an explosive device he walks toward it!

For security reasons, I cannot name him but he ranks a 27 on the alpha male scale and that says something knowing the scale actually only goes up to 10 (trust me it was tough to rank him so high considering I am about a 7.5!).

Now, one Halloween after the kids finished trick or treating, the guys on the street decided to gather for a few beverages!

His wife asked me not to talk about his job and I agreed. Yet, after a few beers and his wanting to talk football until my ears hurt, I felt it was my inalienable right to ask him a couple of work related questions!

In fact, it took me about 1.1 seconds to ask him the obvious $64,000 question.

“Do you ever get scared?”. Amazingly, it took him 1.1 seconds to reply. It was an unequivocal “No”. Being the former investigative reporter that I am I felt compelled to ask the next, hard hitting and seemingly logical question, “Why not?”

Amazingly, it took him 1.1 seconds to reply. It was an unequivocal “No”. Being the former investigative reporter that I am I felt compelled to ask the next, hard hitting and seemingly logical question, “Why not?”

Rather than answer my question he offered up a question of his own. “You played football, right?”.  Were you ever scared?”  I replied, “yes and no”.  He then asked me to explain.

No, I was never scared of the obvious.  The obvious being the potential consequences that accompanied trying to catch a pass on a field filled with defenders aka heat-seeking missiles. The decision to compete at a high level came with risks, I understood this reality because it was part of the job description.

Yes, there were times when I was scared and it had to do with my not feeling prepared or feeling like my teammates were not prepared.  A prepared individual can compete on an elevated, instinctual level.  A team of prepared individuals can work in unison and enjoy a higher degree of success.  In turn, the possibility of falling victim in what essentially is a human demolition derby was minimized. Preparedness and awareness allowed me to focus on success and not survival.

“Bingo!” was his reply. “In football, what do you call the process of preparation?” he asked.  I could only come up with “game planning“. “Bingo!” he said.  It was then that I told him to stop saying bingo…it was kind of annoying.  Yes, I am calling out a decorated explosives specialist in a garage on Halloween night. Clearly, the beverages were taking over!

Yet, he agreed that game planning and preparation was the ultimate key in trying to avoid heat-seeking missiles on the football field or explosive situations in the theatre of combat.  Game planning and preparation was the key to his individual success as well as his teams success.

That’s when he introduced the 360 Degree Circle of Influence and to be frank…it immediately spoke to me and my work as a leadership coach and team builder.

With every step a team takes regardless of the theater, the story always has the potential to change in any number of ways. As a result, each and every member of the team plays a critical, organic role in the success of the mission regardless of rank.

Successful teams feature an elevated expectation of competency that allows a team to be versatile and open to change. Getting better is a process that is organic in nature and is key in managing fear and doubt. Managing the fear quotient requires a clear strategy based on the following..

  • trust
  • syncopation
  • communication
  •  willingness to adapt and overcome

A great example of this can be found in auto racing. Drivers utilize

Drivers utilize saccadic vision in the bid to find a balance between their peripheral vision, forward vision, processing information and making decisions at a high rate of speed.  Put a G licensed driver with a clean record into an open-wheeled, Indy racing car and as them to drive. Fear and the anticipation of failure would take over.  A focus that is too narrow or too broad is the recipe for failure. The ability to sense and to adapt to circumstances is key.

Michael Schumacher, Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt or any other elite race car driver races to win…not survive.

The ability to sense and to adapt to circumstances is key. It requires practice….it requires an investment that is called preparedness.

Hockey players call it “keeping your head on a swivel!”. Preparation and training slows high stress moments down.

Today, successful corporate leaders have realized that the 360 principal is applicable to themselves and their teams. They understand that the key to fulfilling an objective is to find an alternate route when you come to an obstacle… to problem solve on the go.  NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz surrounded himself with a team of brilliant minds that can launch a rocket into space…but more importantly, bring that rocket back safely after an oxygen tank blows up en route to the moon. “Failure is not an option!”

The combination of preparedness, communication, versatility and trust is the foundation for success regardless of the theater you work in.

Ken Evraire is an award winning keynote speaker, team builder, coach, former pro athlete and part time comic.

For more blog posts, visit Ken at www.kenevraire.com or to contact him, email him at ken@kenevraire.com