Image by Pablo Elices from Pixabay
Lately I’ve had very frustrated executives in my office saying, “don’t say anything I just need to rant”. And they let fly.
The theme is (other) people avoiding their responsibilities. It takes various forms:
- Avoidance of conflict.
- Avoidance of decisions.
- Avoidance of leadership.
They lament about what they’re left with:
- The inefficient and unfair workaround. The lack of justice riles them.
- The time-wasting politics.
- The frustrating: “it’s like walking through treacle trying to get anything done around here”.
Or, as one of my clients says: “it’s like a zoo, so many elephants in the room”.
And that got me thinking about Jumanji. You know, where four high school kids embody an avatar after they are sucked into the Jumanji jungle game.
As we learn in Jumanji, the only way the players can escape is to work together to finish the game.
- Yes, you have to play the game, you can’t sit on the sidelines… the rant clears the way for my clients to begin to work out how they want to play.
- You can’t break the rules… this is what my clients seem most upset about, the broken, albeit unspoken, rules.
- You’ll only succeed if you come together and play to each other’s strengths while acknowledging your weaknesses… it’s a work in progress, and each small win reminds them that it’s worth it.
An Exciting Announcement
I love hearing from you and so many of you send me lovely emails. And it got me thinking. Rather than keeping it private, why not share our collective wisdom? It’d be great to start a conversation when you feel so called, not just between you and me, but between all of us. That’s why I’ve now enabled comments here on the blog.
To kick it off, I’d love to know, is your workplace the next Jumanji? Scroll down and leave your comments. Can’t wait to hear from you!
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This quote is a keeper: “it’s like a zoo, so many elephants in the room”.
Thanks for sharing, as always.
It sure is a keeper! Love it too, Jim.
Hi Michelle
As a consultant/coach/facilitator I would add “avoidance of accountability ” to your list of laments:
Hi Gillian, Yes, true. And I do like how you call it ‘a list of laments’. Captures the sentiment perfectly.
As always, good insight. Can I share this with my colleagues?
Oh, gee, thanks Marie-Claude. And I’d be delighted if you shared this with your colleagues. Please do!
Its so simple and valid for team work success. Do we need jumanji for lessons? Off course. But it would appear hard to acknowledge the own weakness while recognising strength of a junior team member?
Good point Julius. That to me shows a lack of development – self-leadership is what I think they’re calling it these days. It is hard to acknowledge our weaknesses at the best of times and we all have blind spots. But I don’t think that should preclude recognizing strengths in another (unless, ironically, that’s the weakness).
Great article as always! Love the Jumanji analogy.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Thanks, Alain! Appreciate it. I came late to Jumanji. I saw Jumanji 3 in Taipei – first Jumanji experience. The only movie on at the time in English (I like going to the movies in different countries). And I was pleasantly surprised – loved the movie (and Taiwan).
i am going to ask our team of software developers and new leaders whether they think we are a Jumanji team.
Note: We purposefully avoid any aspects of corporate speak as we are anything but.
Hi Rob, I like the sound of your team. Sounds fun, kind of like Jumanji. Please do tell us what they think. The idea of being a Jumanji team appeals to me… a lot!