🎻S3T Playbook: Harmonize Different Kinds of Expertise to Achieve Success
Introduction
Today's leaders must excel in getting very smart people with divergent sets of skills and expertise to improvise work together as one team. This is not easy, and it's different from the command and control delegation hierarchy of the 2oth century. But it is the only way to avoid negative impacts, wasted time and resources and lost opportunities. This S3T Playbook shows you how to harmonize different kinds of expertise to achieve a desired outcome using AI, stablecoins, quantum computing and other emerging technologies.
Today's opportunities and threats require close-knit multidisciplinary improvisation
Today's emerging technologies offer huge promise (and peril), and the path to real world value and benefit is rarely clear or smooth.
Navigating this journey increasingly requires a close-knit multi-disciplinary improvisation that must go beyond simply delegating tasks to different groups. It requires a different level of thinking and working together. Rather than "fire-and-forget" tasks to "task owners" who work in their respective teams or verticals, teams today must get comfortable doing their tasks with their collaborators looking over their shoulders, or working alongside them. Notably this upends the conventional wisdom about "task ownership" "one throat to choke" that so much of agile project management is based on.
Why Classic PMO task assignment needs to be reconsidered
Traditionally, project managers advanced by proving they could manage larger and larger projects. They leveraged status meetings, RAID logs and clear task assignment and ownership to drive accountability, and in many cases this was sufficient to help get the projects done.
Today it's different; advancement comes from successful execution of more complex cross-domain projects. Instead of " 2 year middleware implementation" think "3 month pilot to production initiative that blends AI + data modernization + security + clinical expertise".
Today's project leaders must have domain-specific expertise - along with the ability to make sure cross-disciplinary teams are solving problems in the most effective manner.
This forces a departure from traditional task assignment models of "who's on point for x? Ok assign this task to them and then we'll expect its solved by next status meeting".
That approach fails when x is something that no single domain can solve singlehandedly.
- Status meetings and RAID logs become sources of confusion and churn, especially when product owners, scrum masters and other project leaders aren't tracking with the complex inter-disciplinary issues in play.
- Likewise assigning tasks with due dates only tends to exacerbate silo culture and complicate root-cause analysis.
Instead project leaders need to focus on collaborative work efforts where individuals with different expertise are working together vs. taking tasks off to by themselves and trying to solve them in isolation.
The key to unlocking real-world value and benefits lies not in the technology itself but in our ability to harmonize and orchestrate the right ensemble of expertise from diverse disciplines. The following S3T Playbook equips executives and innovators with the strategies necessary to foster collaboration and drive successful outcomes in this challenging environment.
Blending varying disciplines into a cohesive planning and execution is extraordinarily difficult.
Each discipline comes with its unique set of principles, rules of thumb, guardrails, learned through trail and error and often solidified by experiences involving embarrassing or painful failures. This in turn tends to foster a natural rigidity in perspective and approach, with each expert bringing a distinct set of do’s and don’ts. Always do x, never do y.
Often what is applicable in one domain doesn't apply as directly in another, and there's no single expert that trumps all others. Leaders must learn how to navigate this reality, or risk experiencing a catastrophic loss of control at the enterprise or reputation level.
For instance, the principles governing data security in a traditional data center can differ significantly from those applicable in the cloud. Such paradigm shifts are pervasive across the technological landscape, necessitating a reevaluation of established practices.
Change leadership playbook for leading cross-disciplinary initiatives
This playbook offers guidance for leaders tasked with uniting disparate experts towards a common goal. The objective is to leverage the collective strengths and expertise of the team, navigating through the intricacies of innovation to realize the envisioned benefits.
Set clear expectations
Begin by establishing a common understanding of the collaborative journey ahead. Emphasize the shift from individual expertise to collective endeavor, highlighting the importance of adaptability and mutual respect in this new dynamic.
Understand the intersection of disciplines
Develop a keen insight into the interactions between different areas of expertise. Recognize the potential for gaps and overlaps, and learn how to address these effectively.
- You may need to sit down with the different team members and draw a picture that maps out how and where your different kinds of expertise will intersect.
- This may require you to figure out decision rights. Who gets to decide when there are multiple viewpoints or options.
When developing a cross functional governance team responsible for approving AI models for use in healthcare operations, I had to help the group create a set of voting rules that spelled out in simple language what happened if different participants voted different ways. This allowed us to clearly define when the legal team could override the clinical team (or vice versa), or when cybersecurity could override etc.
Be ready to mediate
Anticipate disputes and disagreements. Having mechanisms in place for conflict resolution is crucial, acknowledging that not all issues can be resolved through leadership alone. Engage neutral external experts when necessary. These can include legal and financial advisors, board members, mentors, or retired industry veterans. Find sources that will give you and your team impartial guidance.
Additional resource: 6 Ways to Resolve Conflict. Most conflicts can be resolved by 1 or more of these 6 methods.
Maintain calm leadership
Embrace the turbulent nature of tackling complex challenges. Like navigating white-water rapids, expect ups and downs. Your demeanor sets the tone for the team; remain calm, transparent and open, fostering an environment of trust and resilience.
It's important to help the team remember that however crazy it seems like its getting, this is par for the course. Engineering new impactful changes and improvements is a messy chaotic process. You need to project a familiarity with that messiness, and a steady reassuring vibe that "it's going to be ok."
This doesn't mean that you sugarcoat things or downplay the consequences of failure. You can accurately convey what is at stake, alongside a calm focus on the next best step, and encourage your team to follow your example.
Stay focused on the destination while giving the team latitude to find the best path to that destination
The path from idea to real world impact and benefit is almost never predictable. There is a certain amount of trial and error that is unavoidable. The team of mixed disciplines needs the time and space to learn each other's languages/patterns of working and thinking, and start to develop their own collective map of the territory that must be navigated in order to reach the desired destination.
Q&A: Putting this into practice
The following Q & A section addresses potential questions readers may have after absorbing the insights provided, offering further clarification and guidance.
Q: How do I get my team to understand the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration?
A: One of the strongest options is to share examples of unique insights and innovations that could have only emerged from the intersection of diverse disciplines. Use examples of past successes where such collaboration led to breakthroughs that were not possible in siloed environments. Here are a couple of examples from my own experience that I'd share (you can likely think of similar ones from your experience)
- Successful cloud based data sharing platform for highly sensitive data. This required a blending of data, cloud and security expertise.
- Award winning clinical AI solution. This required collaboration between data, legal, clinical, ethics and software experts.
Q: What strategies can I employ to manage and mediate conflicts between team members from different disciplines?
A: Levelset an expectation of respect and humility. Each of us has deep expertise, but also blind spots. Together we can create a more complete picture or solution than we could by ourselves, or with only one type of expertise. Back this ups up with clear communication protocols and conflict resolution mechanisms from the outset. Encourage open dialogue and empathy, fostering an environment where differences are seen as opportunities for learning rather than obstacles.
Q: How do I maintain my own equilibrium and leadership in the face of the challenges that come with managing such a diverse team?
A: You're going to have to invest in yourself, your personal growth and development, with a focus on emotional intelligence and stress management techniques. Be careful of what you spend your emotional energy on. If you're drained, on edge, irritable etc, you're not going to be an effective mediator or example of good collaboration. Seek mentorship and advice from leaders who have successfully navigated similar challenges, and remember the importance of self-care to sustain your ability to lead effectively.
Key Takeaway
The path from concept to tangible value is fraught with complexity. The key to unlocking real-world value and benefits lies not in the technology itself but in our ability to harmonize and orchestrate the right ensemble of expertise from diverse disciplines.
By embracing this change leadership playbook for harmonizing different disciplines, leaders can effectively navigate the complexities of interdisciplinary collaboration, steering their teams towards the successful realization of innovative solutions that address the challenges and opportunities of today's technology-driven world.
Click here to go to the next learning segment: The power of narratives, and how to change them:
You personally have a set of internal narratives that guide your snap judgments and reactions. Your organization or industry likewise has conventional wisdom and status quo thinking. How to identify, challenge and change these narratives.