{"id":8959,"date":"2020-09-29T08:38:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T08:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/?p=8959"},"modified":"2020-09-29T08:38:14","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T08:38:14","slug":"lesson-8-discussion-overhead-reduction-task-force-segments-5-6-discussion-board-group-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/29\/lesson-8-discussion-overhead-reduction-task-force-segments-5-6-discussion-board-group-b\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 8 Discussion: Overhead Reduction Task Force Segments 5 &#038; 6 &#8211; Discussion Board Group B"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Please respond to at least two of these questions.Post your initial replies no later than&nbsp;the middle&nbsp;of this lesson period; post your responses to your classmates&#8217; posts no later than the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of this lesson period, see the course schedule for specific dates.&nbsp;Please review the course expectations for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/courses\/1958712\/assignments\/10166229\">Individual Participation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How would you evaluate George\u2019s giving feedback to Lara? How would you evaluate Lara\u2019s receiving of the feedback? Use the readings to provide some insights on what they did well and how they could have improved.<\/li><li>How would you evaluate the way that the group responded to and processed the feedback on their performance? What did they do well and what could they have done better?<\/li><li>What challenges did Lara face in conducting the debrief meeting with the group? What did she do well with the debrief and what could he have improved on?<\/li><li>In what ways did the team follow the advice (or not) in the Edmondson chapter \u201cFailing better to succeed faster?\u201d<\/li><li>Having now watched the full life-cycle of the task force, think generally about what the video case implies about managing teams. What should group leaders do at the different stages of the group\u2019s life in terms of (a) design and (b) coaching? You might want to draw from Schwarz\u2019 Team Effectiveness Model (TEM) in answering this question (reproduced below).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/courses\/1958712\/files\/93339794\/preview\" alt=\"Schwarz 2017 TEM Model.jpg\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Search entries or author Filter replies by unread &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Lesson 8 Discussion: Overhead Reduction Task Force Segments 5 &amp; 6 &#8211; Discussion Board Group B<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Sep 24, 2018 Sep 24, 2018 at 11:25am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>1. In the realm of feedback, the overall situation was tense. Lara&#8217;s&nbsp;arms were crossed and George was not enthused. From the beginning, Lara was not in&nbsp;a mindset to receive feedback and George was not in a sound position to give critical feedback. George really just dictated to Lara that the group was wrong and that he essentially already had ideas on what they would be doing. This is not conductive feedback at all. While feedback according to Goldsmith is static and limited, having at least that conversation would be more constructive for Lara to deliver back to the team then nothing but George&#8217;s frustration. I would even go further as to suggest feedforward would be a better conduit&nbsp;for future success of this team. According to Goldsmith, George could have picked the team&#8217;s assumption behavior as a possible behavior to shift for projects moving forward if he didn&#8217;t like where they went. He then could have given Lara and ultimately the team suggestions for future use like&nbsp;meeting with&nbsp;him midway through the project to verify that they were on track. Furthermore, as noted by the team, George&#8217;s framing of the project made it&nbsp;seem like he was asking the subject matter experts to find solutions and take liberty in them. Essentially to Goldsmith, a good leader is one who asks not tells. By setting up the team with that&nbsp;frame of reference,&nbsp;the team only did what was&nbsp;asked of them&nbsp;but&nbsp;George actually set them up to fail. One, he had his own ideas and two,&nbsp;he left the problem solving ambiguous. So far, George is limiting what the group can learn from their failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. The team somewhat conducted their own feedback process. After&nbsp;Lara&nbsp;came back to deliver George&#8217;s &#8220;feedback&#8221;, they took&nbsp;digs&nbsp;at George. They mentioned his vacation, they&nbsp;also were annoyed that George had ideas and were frankly worried about their jobs and whether to keep working for this man. Its very apparent that they were angry that George didn&#8217;t even see from their view point as subject matter experts that his way wouldn&#8217;t work. This type of behavior is not constructive nor&nbsp;professional but it did help them from being into the blame game as mentioned by&nbsp;Edmonson.&nbsp;After the initial shock and confusion on George&#8217;s response, they were frustrated but they channeled that frustration into understanding what they did. They themselves knew that the first week was not a conductive week in terms of work and solutions found. They determined&nbsp;that they should have come at the problems as they did in the second week on the first week. They also recognized how much free liberty they took on assumptions&nbsp;they made on&nbsp;George&#8217;s framing of the project; they determined another path forward and assumed if would be ok with George. Furthermore, one team member even going to mention that they should have called George as they asked before he left to determine if they were in line with the project. By recognizing these faults, it made them self aware of their own actions which can serve&nbsp;these members&nbsp;as memorable examples of what not to do in future projects or teams. They also recognized as a team how well they worked in the second week. They recognized how beneficial it was breaking out into smaller groups to share the load and be more strategic with the subject matter experts in the room. The very fact that Lara brought out &#8220;what are we doing well, what are we not doing well, what can we do better&#8221; tool and mentality&nbsp;also played into the feedback process for themselves. This is something that again can be used for future projects or teams as a way to&nbsp;review a team at the mid way point and the end point which they did.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:33am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>They should be worried about their jobs. George is the new boss and gave them a specific tasking. They completely ignore his direction because they found the task too difficult. This is not good followership and they are not showing George that they are competent. Instead they disregard his directions and come up with their own plan for the company. They spent time persuading George to allow them to contact him if needed at the halfway point and then decide not to reach out for more guidance.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:10pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hmm I think there is some leeway with what he said though. He stated that they were not to layoff the new employees as their only rule so looking at it from that perspective, George failed to completely develop boundaries for them.&nbsp; Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> on Oct 1, 2018 at 6:19pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:36am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li><ul><li>I agree that George is also to blame. He was not clear and concise. He was so rushed he failed them as their leader.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 11:06am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp;George and Lara were both very emotional from the start of this conversation. Therefore, productive feedback was neither given nor received well. George\u2019s demeanor came off as attacking to Lara and her team and he failed to explain why he did not like their plan. Lara immediately went into defense mode as one naturally does when they feel someone is attacking them. Both Lara and George\u2019s comments focused on the past and what the other person did wrong. One of Goldsmith\u2019s principles on feedforward is, \u201cIt can be more productive to help people learn to be \u2018right,\u2019 than prove they were \u2018wrong\u2019\u201d (Goldsmith 2015). George and Lara could have had a more productive conversation if they were not playing the blame game. Neither one of them provided helpful tips on how to improve going forward (Goldsmith 2015). Furthermore, Lara\u2019s body language of shaking her head and looking down implied that she was no longer listening to George, which probably angered him further and led him to be defensive. He stated that perhaps Lara knew what\u2019s best for this division better than him. Since he is a new manager and Lara probably does know the company better than he does, he should be able to ask the people around him who have subject matter expertise and look to them for suggestions for improvement (Goldsmith 2005). He asserted his authority over Lara and her team by dismissing their plan because it was not the way he wanted to cut costs. He further stated that they will only cut overhead costs his way. This no longer sounds like a team effort, but an assembly line with a top-down structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.&nbsp;This task force followed Edmondson\u2019s advice in the following ways: they acknowledged failure, analyzed their process and used what they learned to apply in the future, and lastly, they developed a learning approach to failure. The team did admit that they did not complete the task that George asked of them. Their initial responses indicated that they may not see their fault in this situation, but by admitting their failure, they accepted their role in making George upset. Furthermore, the team analyzed what they did well and what they did not do well. By discussing what they should keep doing and what they can improve on, they developed as a team and helped themselves improve for their future tasks. I don\u2019t think that this team will waste another week arguing about a task in the future. This team\u2019s reflection on their team process and results displayed a shift from advocacy orientation to inquiry orientation. They initially exhibited advocacy orientation by blaming George\u2019s orders and his lack of trust in the team for their failure to complete the task. However, through Lara\u2019s facilitation they were able to transform their outlook to a more inquiry-based orientation, which helped them learn from their work together as a group. They established greater respect for one another through this process and seem to be willing to bring that teamwork spirit with them in their future endeavors as a team. This team was able to take an impossible task which inevitably led to their failure, and managed to turn that into an opportunity to learn and apply their gained knowledge to their future tasks. They walked away feeling accomplished and that is what learning from failure is ultimately about.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 29, 2018 Sep 29, 2018 at 7:04am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I agree. George provided poor feedback and Lara did not receive that poor feedback well. George was blunt and unpleasant. His feedback was not constructive and provided zero value. Lara was visibly uncomfortable with the feedback and felt restricted when she tried to explain her side. The feedback did not provide any value to Lara and only put down the efforts of her team and her over the past 2 weeks.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:03pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Rubi, I too really thought that Lara did a good job at turning the team to a reflection session where they could talk about the successors in their failures. &nbsp;This conversation was successful at avoiding finger-pointing for the failure and allowed them to learn from their mistakes. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 4:09pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2)&nbsp; Upon hearing the news of George\u2019s reaction, the team did not take it particularly well.&nbsp; Despite this being a completely natural and predictable response, it is not the best course of action to take to reflect in a meaningful way.&nbsp; At first, the team was irritated, disappointed, and perhaps slightly hostile to message Lara delivered. &nbsp;They immediately found external sources for their failure, such a declaring George as untrustworthy and claiming that they were set up for disaster.&nbsp; Interestingly, as described in <em>Have the Courage to Ask<\/em>, the team did not for a moment consider the possibility that they did not bring the skills or knowledge required to get the job done.&nbsp; However, they did realize that the risk they took in redefining the project deliverable was a bad decision and that they should have tried to contact George.&nbsp; The team did well at reminiscing on what they did well at and what they did not.&nbsp; They noted that overall, they worked well together on difficult issues and could deliver a solution.&nbsp; On the other hand, they realized that some people steam rolled other ideas in some cases and that not every perspective was fully understood.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3)&nbsp; Lara faced the large challenge of reporting failure to her team and trying to remain positive in the face of it.&nbsp; Her biggest success was in reframing the team\u2019s letdown into a learning experience.&nbsp; She demonstrated an optimistic attitude and encouraged the team to see the good in what they had done.&nbsp; By encouraging the rest of the members to reflect, they uncovered the team strengths they took advantage of to deliver a novel, but not desired, solution to the problem presented to them.&nbsp; Lara put emphasis on the growth that the team underwent through two challenging weeks and promoted learning from mistakes.&nbsp; She championed the outcome of the group, going as far to state that she would like to have another meeting with George to focus on the progress the team did make in fostering teamwork and building relationships.&nbsp; However, although Lara enabled the to team to see their strengths, she failed to entirely complete the feedforward process.&nbsp; How can the team use those strengths in the next project to achieve greater success?&nbsp; Can newfound abilities be applied in a certain way that could synergize with George in future interactions?&nbsp; Had Lara provided more feedforward, she could have prepared her team for the upcoming meeting with George and success overall.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:28am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes if Lara had provided some useful feedforward the team could prepare themselves for the upcoming meeting with George. The task force seems to acknowledge that they completed disregarded their boss&#8217;s guidelines. Lara was able to get the members to reflect what was beneficial during their two weeks together. Hopefully the team learned how to work together more effectively going forward in the event George doesn&#8217;t do the obvious thing and fire all of them to get his reduction. Then George could promote from within and not provide as high a compensation plan. Solution seems too easy.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:05pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Was it really blatant disregard or more a lack of accessibility for feedback?<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:33pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>A combination of both. As poor a job George did providing guidance the one thing he accurately did was give them the goal. The team abandoned that goal and went in another direction.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 12:32pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Frank, I agree that the team did well reflecting on their successes and failures in the follow up meeting with Lara, but I think they missed an opportunity in recognizing a blind spot.&nbsp; From the first meeting with George and Lara they were clearly skeptical of the task and how it could be achieved.&nbsp; That initial reluctance juxtaposed with their reaction to the news of George&#8217;s displeasure shows a group that was never truly all in on the project.&nbsp; Not acknowledging that this lack of openness may have negatively impacted the end result is a missed opportunity with this project and provides an unclear outlook for future projects assigned by George.&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 7:06pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The feedback session between George and Lara was stressful to observe. George provides downward feedback to Lara but was unwilling to listen to her upward feedback. Tension increased as George holds Lara accountable for her results that did not meet his expectations. His feedback was negative and non-constructive. In my opinion, this meeting was effective but was handled improperly.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting was effective because George communicates his dissatisfaction with Lara\u2019s results. Then, he proceeds to tell Lara the reduction is possible in contrast to her findings. I believe George comes off as shrewd in this conversation because he reacts out of emotions rather than providing constructive feedback. Lara recognizes his dissatisfaction and negativity which manifests into frustration. George improperly handles holding Lara accountable because she feels fear and confusion after this conversation, instead of support and understanding of next step action items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To put it briefly, this conversation could have improved if George provided constructive feedback, feedforward or listened to upward feedback. Quality communication could have yielded a more dynamic conversation that resulted in motivation and preparation for future presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\"><li>The group responded poorly to the feedback Lara shared. Members quickly became disgruntled by the feedback which resulted in upward feedback to Lara. They felt setup for failure because George had a plan to reduce overhead from the start. Lara empathized with group and answered questions to the best of her ability, but the overall group well-being was negative.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, Lara conducted a start, stop and continue segment to ground the team and review context. I felt this was a value-added session to refocus the group and identify opportunities. In my opinion, Lara should have started the meeting by framing the feedback into a constructive and positive next step solution. Feedforward would have been a valuable tool to shape the mindset of the group before the situation got carried away with complaints.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:15am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You are spot on. George effectively explained his displeasure with the results. He may not have expressed himself in the best way but keep in mind that the team was tasked to do one thing and they ditched that idea since they considered it impossible. Instead of contacting George for further guidance they hatched a&nbsp;cockamamie plan to increase profits. Lara does not have a good handle on her team debrief either. As the project leader during George&#8217;s absence she should take control of the room and explain how she allowed the team to fail. Henry Ford said it best; &#8220;Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.&#8221; Lara should convey George&#8217;s message with tact and prepare the team for the upcoming meeting with George and other key figures in the company. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 28, 2018 Sep 28, 2018 at 2:54pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp; &nbsp;Observing the interaction between George and Lara revealed an intense situation.&nbsp; George was highly critical of Lara and her team\u2019s work and did not hold back in letting her know that it was unacceptable.&nbsp; He dismissed the work entirely and even went on to say that he had come up with some ideas of his own while on vacation that the group can use.&nbsp; It is understandable that George was disappointed with the final output of this task force, but to improve his feedback it may have been more effective for him to frame their failure as a by-product of experimentation.&nbsp; Lara was clearly disappointed as the receiver of this feedback and did not agree with George, but she did do a good job of keeping her composure despite the negative feedback.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.&nbsp;When Lara reported back to the team after her difficult meeting with George, the team initially did not process the feedback well.&nbsp; They immediately reverted to the speculation they showed in earlier segments of the task force on whether to trust George as their new boss or not and continued to complain about the vacation.&nbsp; However, once Lara guides the group to be more reflective and consider what could have been done better, some of them are more level-headed and acknowledge their part in the apparent failure.&nbsp; They consider their assumption that he would be okay with their changes to be a mistake and admit that they should have done their best to contact him. &nbsp;Like George\u2019s feedback meeting with Lara, Lara could have done a better job framing the group\u2019s failure in this meeting.&nbsp; Rather than allowing the initial anger in the room to begin she could have discussed how this failure comes naturally with the experimentation that they performed and to make less assumptions on tasks going forward.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:03am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Agreed that Lara took the feedback like a champ. George did not frame the feedback in the best way but can you really blame him. He tasked Lara and her team to start working on a plan to reduce overhead by 20% that could be implemented within 4 months. The team decided to disregard their boss&#8217;s direction and instead did whatever they wanted. What they ended up with was a&nbsp;cockamamie plan to increase profits.&nbsp;Had the team come up with some solutions to the actual tasking they received&nbsp;the feedback session may have turned out differently. They probably should&#8217;ve called George at the halfway point. They insisted on the opportunity to reach him while on his well-deserved vacation and then decided not to.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 9:56pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pat,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You do make a great point about the interaction between George and Lara; intense is a good word for it.&nbsp; It really is a demonstration of her character that she kept calm, looked for the positives in the team and situation, and is continuing to push forward with a good attitude.&nbsp; Had she took on a demeanor as, intense we shall say, as George, she could have went back to the team and damaged their morale even more and derailed them even further.&nbsp; To the same point, I believe that George handled that interaction very poorly.&nbsp; His delivery and mannerisms presented to Lara in that meeting are just rude, and he once again frames himself as a poor leader.&nbsp; The way he speaks about his ideas from the mountains is disrespectful to the effort the team did put in and undermines the need of the team altogether.&nbsp; Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> on Oct 4, 2018 at 9:57pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 5, 2018 Oct 5, 2018 at 7:44am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hi Patrick,<br><br>I think George should have maintained his directness in providing feedback, because in my opinion that is the most efficient way to provide feedback. However, I agree that he should not have dismissed the group\u2019s work all together. As for the team, I can understand their frustrations and it\u2019s better they vent together without George as opposed to giving him the passive aggressive treatment. Venting together also has a way of bringing people closer, which can be great for teams that have to work together.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Rubi <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 29, 2018 Sep 29, 2018 at 9:37pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>George\u2019s feedback to Lara was lousy. Goldsmith states \u201cthere is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred\u2014not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.\u201d George simply focused on the fact that the team didn\u2019t do as he instructed and instead came up with a cockamamie plan to increase profits. George was to focused on what he wants done to consider other options. He did not portray this very well to Lara. This was evident in the response Lara had to the feedback session. She seemed uncomfortable. Lara was unable to explain the team\u2019s position and was visibly frustrated. Quality feedback was neither delivered nor received.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\"><li>Lara faced many challenges while debriefing her team. She did not provide useful feedback to the team. Lara seemed to still be flustered from her interaction with George and it hindered her ability to recall with accuracy the results of his feedback; granted George\u2019s feedback to Lara was as beneficial as ascreen door on a submarine. Lara was unable to articulate George\u2019s response with clarity and stumbled her way to a perfectly incoherent thought. Lara did successfully articulate that George was upset but that is the extent of what went well during the debrief. Lara could have mentioned how they were given direct guidance to work towards by their leader and they decided to ignore the boss\u2019s directions. She could have mentioned that George\u2019s response should have been expected considering they disregarded his guidance and instead did what ever they pleased.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:14pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I think you could tell by both parties that they were defensive towards one another and unhappy with one another. George&#8217;s tone lacked professionalism in regards to Lara and she had her hands crossed as a way to protect herself. Both parties have to be receptive for any kind of feedback or feedforward to mean something. If anything, George should have met with the entire group rather than just Lara to see and give feedback on what their solution was.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 11:20pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Great point Alexis. I agree that both parties were defensive towards each other which diminished the receptivity for any kind of feedback or feedforward. In my opinion, Lara and George should have a follow up meeting when tensions are lower. This meeting should have occurred before Lara met with the team. Their conversation should begin with establishing psychological safety by setting ground rules; an example could be George give feedback first, Lara responds, then Lara provides George upward feedback, and George responds. This would encourage listening to learn and prevent an unprofessional environment. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> on Oct 1, 2018 at 11:21pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 8:41pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We all agree that Lara and George were more emotional and defensive towards each other than is appropriate for a productive work environment.&nbsp; I was surprised to see at the beginning of the video, that George was reading the proposal in front of Lara.&nbsp; For George to ask to meet with Lara and then read the proposal in front of her, shows a disrespect for Lara&#8217;s time.&nbsp; If George had read the proposal prior to his meeting with Lara, he would have had time to compose himself and approach the meeting without reacting emotionally, yet still conveying his disappointment with the team&#8217;s proposal.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:07am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Christine- I agree with you that George had a level of disrepect for Lara in both the kick-off discussion of the project, as well as in the final feedback session. It&#8217;s clear, based-on the original group discussion where George addressed the group that his demeanor was different in a group environment. I&#8217;m of the belief that having an emotional messenger (in this case, Lara) is a huge negative. The message, feedback and content is lost when delivering to the larger group and masked by emotion. In a more effective setting, I have to believe George and team would have been much better off being addressed as a group, with a conversation and active feedback loop, as opposed to the scenario that played-out with George to Lara, Lara to group.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:47am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>Completely agree Christine. Why wouldn&#8217;t George be prepared for the meeting with Lara by having already read her report. Poor form indeed.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:40am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I agree Alexis. George should have met with the entire team after meeting with Lara. He could have gotten Lara&#8217;s report and discussed with her then had the team get together and provide feedback to them. This was not handled well on any front. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> on Oct 7, 2018 at 12:41am <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 5, 2018 Oct 5, 2018 at 7:53am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hi David,<br>I agree that George simply wasn\u2019t in the mindset of the opportunity for the future. A 20% increase in revenue is awesome! At the same time, they didn\u2019t do what he asked of them. And if this was a test for the team, they clearly failed.&nbsp;<br>Lara did bring her flustered attitude to the meeting. I noticed&nbsp;that she also&nbsp;turned the situation around once she saw the reaction from her&nbsp;team. They were upset with George, which led her to play the Devil\u2019s advocate and allow the team to see how they could have been wrong in this situation. By changing the entire vibe of the room, Lara&nbsp;showed&nbsp;her leadership ability.&nbsp;<br>Thanks,Rubi<br><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 11:56am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Edmondson and Zofi emphasized the importance of language in this week&#8217;s readings, when talking about failure and when working in teams.&nbsp; George referred to the task force reduction team as &#8220;you people&#8221; twice.&nbsp; This language creates a boundary distancing George from his coworkers.&nbsp; It erodes trust. As the discussion board posts have already stated, George gave direct feedback, but managed it poorly.&nbsp; Lara felt attacked and responded defensively.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that George did well was to specifically state that in the future, the team should follow his given task as it is stated.&nbsp; This could be considered feedforward.&nbsp; However, coming at the heels of negative feedback, the comments will probably not have the positive effects that Goldsmith mentioned in his article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Edmondson proposes that since failure is inevitable, management should make it psychologically safe to report.&nbsp; This allows problems to be discussed, and promotes stopping failed projects sooner.&nbsp; In the first team meeting, George said that he expected the team to only have a 50% chance of success. Thus he made failure acceptable.&nbsp; This is a good step.&nbsp; However, the team did not feel psychologically safe with George. This is evidenced by them being worried about their jobs after George rejected their proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;The failed proposal could have been stopped sooner with a phone call.&nbsp; Perhaps the phone call would have been made if the team felt psychologically safe with George or if a member had a pre-existing relationship with George.&nbsp;&nbsp;Instead, the team spent another week developing a failed proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Rubi mentioned, the team did a good job discussing their failure afterwards.&nbsp; They acknowledged that the first week of time had been wasted as they defended their positions.&nbsp; They agreed that a key team member, George, was missing when they decided to change the task force&#8217;s goal.&nbsp; Their failure analysis should help them avoid these pitfalls as the task force moves forward with George&#8217;s idea, and ideally with George present in the room.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 11:09pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Christine,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do believe George was acting out of emotions rather than providing constructive criticism. This is apparent in verbal and non-verbal communication to Lara. I agree that the use of language is important and could build tension between George and his coworkers. In contrast, I do not believe language would erode trust. Language definitely doesn&#8217;t help this situation, but lack of communication and constructive feedback are impacting trust the most. I believe George&#8217;s lack&nbsp; transparency about how rather than what, in regards to feedback and next steps to reduce overhead, are eroding trust in this situation (but verbal and non-verbal communication definitely play a factor).&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 8:56pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>Andre, I agree that lack of communication and constructive feedback can erode trust.&nbsp; However, the language that George used also contributes because he put himself apart from the task force reduction team.&nbsp; He is drawing boundary lines between &#8220;us&#8221; and &#8220;them&#8221;.&nbsp; By asking what &#8220;you people&#8221; were thinking, George implies that he thinks differently from the task force team.&nbsp; It is not too far a reach to then say that perhaps they have different motivations and goals.&nbsp; From previous videos, we know that the task force team wants to preserve the company, which has been in a lull recently.&nbsp; What does George want? If you question what motivates someone or what their end goal is, it is hard to trust them.&nbsp; That is why I equated George&#8217;s language as a contributing factor to a reduction in trust between him and the task force team. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 8:22pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp; George\u2019s feedback was very straight forward but showed a lot of emotions and disappointment from his side. I consider that he did good by being clear about what he expected and that the goal reached by the team was not what they discussed during the kickoff meeting and far from what he expected. However, his emotions interfered in the way he expressed his disappointment leaving Lara with a bad feeling and without the possibility of discussing what they did wrong and how to move forward from that point as a team. He couldn\u2019t transmit the failure as an opportunity to learn and instead he just shared a feeling of anger and disappointment. On the other hand, Lara seemed to be in shock with the results of the risk her and her team took. She tried to explain to George the reason of the change in their goal, but George\u2019s attitude didn\u2019t leave her room to much explanation or discussion of the situation. I believe that from both sides there was a failure in the way they provided and received feedback and there was not feedforward except from the fact that George expressed to her that he had a few ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3.&nbsp; The team knew they took a risk at presenting a different project to George than the one he asked for. However, they seemed to be expecting more clarification from George\u2019s side. When conducting the debrief, Lara faced the challenge of sharing a very strong hard negative feedback coming from George while trying to keep the team motivated and also pointing at what they did achieve as a team. I believe that the way she shared the information with them was fine, however, she showed a lot of emotions as well; this resulted in members of the team being disappointed, angry, demotivated, and unaware of how to move forward from that. On the other hand, I believe that she tried to balance the situation by trying to help the team focused on what they did achieve, on how good they worked together even by being the first time they were put in that situation, how well they communicated, and also how great results came from that team work even if those results were not the ones expected from George. It is important to recognize the mistake made but also important to look into those things that they learned along the path.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 6:52pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Euri, That is a very interesting perspective on George.&nbsp; I tried to view myself through the eyes of George and Lara and found myself agreeing with you on both of them.&nbsp; However, while both of them did show emotion within that meeting, and outside of it, I found the disappointment that George portrayed easier to understand.&nbsp; From the perspective of George, he tasked the team with the task of a reduction in overhead by a specific point in time.&nbsp; While he was not clear on the intent of the reduction or how he would like it done, he was clear that the ultimate goal was an overhead reduction.&nbsp; From my perspective, it almost sounded as if he would have been happier seeing a 15% reduction then a mix of revenue and overhead reductions.&nbsp; Right or wrong, emotions can sneak into business, and his disappointment in the management was evident. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 9:01pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.) Obviously this was not the outcome that Lara was looking for, and the mood was very tense &amp; uncomfortable. I believe that George should have framed the situation more positively as a learning opportunity, perhaps seeing it as experimentation on the road to the correct solution to the overhead problem. Instead, he criticized Lara &amp; the team harshly, coming off condescendingly, which will likely cause resentment and divisiveness between the two. It would have been better if George had met with the entire team, and solicited their feedback on his concerns while mixing his positive and negative feedback, fostering a learning environment, allowing opportunity to brainstorm new ideas, and more than likely coming up with a more acceptable solution than the one that was proposed earlier as a result. Lara did not receive the feedback well as expected, it may have been better if she had tried to convince George to look at this as a learning opportunity to continue to refine the proposal with the team at the next meeting. Obviously, George did not appear to be in the mood for much feedback to his own opinions.<br><br>2.) The team was upset, and very resentful about the situation. I got the impression that the team felt left in the dark, as they were receiving his criticism second hand from Lara, instead of directly from him. I want to re-iterate that I think it would have been better if George had talked directly to the team himself, this would have done a better job of giving the impression that he was one of them. Instead, he gave them a task, disappeared for two weeks, then criticized them on their work when he returned. This has caused the team to split between them &amp; Laura, and George, and has also left them somewhat confused on the motive for his criticisms. However, on a more positive note, the team did seem to enjoy working with each other once they actually got down to the business of creating the overhead proposal for George, and were surprised that they were able to accomplish as much as they did on such short notice, which appears will build some positive relationships among the team members. Even though they did go through lessons learned, I think they should have spent some time to come up with a strategy for how they should approach the situation once they do meet with George. If possible, they could try to lead the meeting in a more positive direction, and try to convince him that he needs to approach this as more of a learning opportunity.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:19pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I mentioned this as well about George meeting with the entire team and not just Lara. Furthermore, he got upset about their solution when the only criteria was to not lay off employees that were just hired. If anything, the team was successful under his guidelines. If George was upset, then it is his fault for not giving more clear boundaries for the team to move within. A team leader can&#8217;t get mad at a team for using creative solutions if said solutions where not clearly abolished from the guidelines, this is like saying even though you played by the rules, I still don&#8217;t like how you did it so you are wrong. Not characteristics of a leader I and most people want to follow and the team can clearly wonder if they want to continue working for George.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 10:11pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>I agree that George not holding this feedback meeting with the entire team is odd.&nbsp; Now there is no vacation to run off to, yet he still avoids meeting with the team.&nbsp; Why is this?&nbsp; Can he not handle being that negative to a room full of people, or as it seemed in his first meeting with the team, is he uncomfortable with communicating with a large group?&nbsp; Furthermore, he establishes he has come up with the ideas he was looking for all along by himself.&nbsp; He has really positioned himself as an independent executor, not a visionary inspiring collaboration in a learning environment.&nbsp; On the other hand, I may be too hard on George &#8211; his specially appointed team has failed him in presenting a solution to a very specific problem and perhaps now he feels he needs to take absolute control to get the results he wants.&nbsp; It would be a hard position to be in as a leader. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 9:33pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Referencing Edmondson \u201cTeaming\u201d chapter 5&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\"><li>The&nbsp;debriefing&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;was challenging&nbsp;for Lara to manage due to the low&nbsp;morale&nbsp;of the team.&nbsp; The team felt like they had accomplished the creation of a useable plan even if&nbsp;it&nbsp;may not have been exactly what George had set as the goal.&nbsp; When someone knows that the quality of their work is poor then they are less likely to have to be upset by failure.&nbsp; The issue Lara faced was a Team which seemed to believe in the quality of their effort but not in George\u2019s leadership and ability to&nbsp;evaluate&nbsp;their plan&nbsp;effectively.&nbsp; She did a good job of trying to focus the team on the things the learned about each other and how to work as a team.&nbsp; She highlighted what areas of the team process could still be improved on.&nbsp; The team recognized their failure to check in with George before refocusing the&nbsp;team\u2019s goal on&nbsp;profitability&nbsp;instead of just reducing costs.&nbsp; &nbsp;Lara failed to confront the team\u2019s need to work with George again in the future.&nbsp; Properly&nbsp;identifying how George approaches teamwork and what his expectations are would have helped the team to prevent&nbsp;similar&nbsp;issues in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>The teamsuccessfully&nbsp;recognized&nbsp;the primary reason for&nbsp;their&nbsp;failure was failing to check if the change in their goal was acceptable.&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, the team did not view this as an opportunity to work on their communication with George.&nbsp; They failed to address their insecurity with their future&nbsp;employment&nbsp;and with George\u2019s ability to make the changes required for the divisions long term&nbsp;survival.&nbsp; A learning frame toward failure is not easy to accomplish in an environment where even a small failure is unacceptable.&nbsp; The team attempted to make the most of their failure to produce the desired results by focusing on how well their&nbsp;ability&nbsp;to work as a team improved over the two weeks.&nbsp; The team failed in&nbsp;identifying&nbsp;potential&nbsp;sources of failure in a timely manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;The team thought there was only a 50% chance of George accepting their change in direction.&nbsp; The entire&nbsp;second&nbsp;week of the project was wasted in pursue the wrong goal which could have been avoided with one phone call to George.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:04am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Regarding the failure reaction (#4), I was under the impression that the team agreed with George, prior to his departure to touch-base midway through his vacation and their project period to ensure they were on the right track. Had they utilized the time George agreed to talk, some of the disappointment and project miss may have been avoided. Similar to the project kick-off scenario, I have to expect a final discussion where George addresses the group and provides feedback, as well as answers questions. One of the biggest misses, in both the kick-off and feedback was having Lara be the messenger in an emotional state. What are your thoughts? <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 6:41pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2\/3.&nbsp; In my opinion, the team performed poorly in receiving the feedback received from George.&nbsp; First, the team leader, Lara, limited her ability to act as an authority by contributing to the negativity portrayed by the group.&nbsp; By joining the rest of the group in complaining about the decision of George, she created an environment of &#8220;group think&#8221; that led to escalating complaints about the outcome and process.&nbsp; While it is understandable that Lara was disappointed by the outcome, she created a psychologically unsafe condition where any individual that wanted to speak up could have felt intimidated by her negativity.&nbsp; On a positive note, the critique at the end where they went back and looked at the lessons learned (both positive and negative) will allow for a more productive initiative the next time they are tasked with something (assuming they all have jobs!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.&nbsp; Earlier in the process (albeit 1 week in) Lara recognized the failures that were occuring within the brainstorming and evaluation of the process.&nbsp; It was the recognition that I believe was the biggest accomplishment of the entire group.&nbsp; Through this recognition, Lara realized that the most successful approach would be to break into smaller groups and do quick action critiques of revenue and overhead ideas.&nbsp; Each member of the team began to recognize that their were not contributing to the outcome, but instead hindering the potential solution.&nbsp; The quick action review led to plausible ideas to &#8220;save&#8221; the department in creative ways that would be evaluated by senior management.&nbsp; While the solution was not ultimately adopted, the quick action critiques were an effective way for the team to identify solutions and work together better as a team.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 7:46pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I like the point about Lara contributing to the negative atmosphere in the team meeting, which is something I didn&#8217;t go into much detail about in my post. While I understand that Lara has been put into a very uncomfortable situation, I think the best thing she could have done was to try not to contribute any more to the negativity towards George, and try to frame the situation in as well as possible, or at least try to remain neutral. It did create an environment where any opposing opinions would probably not be shared for fear of being received poorly; though George is still the primary cause of the poor attitude among the group. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> on Oct 7, 2018 at 7:48pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:01am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\"><li>I focused on the way the group processed and received the feedback being provided; first Lara from George&#8217;s comments, followed-by the largest group reacting to Lara&#8217;s description and summary. It&#8217;s somewhat difficult to classify Lara&#8217;s reaction to feedback, as George&#8217;s general approach to the conversation was negative, one-sided and lacked content to actually provide the detail to understand what George recognized or how he regarded the information provided outside of one overall feeling; that the team missed. Lara&#8217;s reaction to George&#8217;s feedback was emotional, with body language confirming her frustration and upset feeling. It was clear that Lara wanted to provide detail and explain the group&#8217;s position, approach and output. However, she was limited by interruption and George&#8217;s to-the-point feedback. Lara clearly wanted to further discuss, but that was not going to happen. Her body language was off-putting and she reverted to a defense mechanism quickly with arms folded, leaning back away from engagement, looking away from George when speaking and even abruptly leaving the office and closing the door in disgust. It was evidence that Lara was upset. Her emotion was carried outward and she left little to be questioned.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Lara&#8217;s approach to providing feedback to the group maintained a similar approach to that of George. She opened the conversation with &#8216;he didn&#8217;t go for it,&#8217; which set the tone with the group and immediately initiated discussion of disgust, frustration, excuses and an overall group think scenario that the team was a collective victim in this scenario. Lara failed to present the feedback in a way that would elicit conversation outside of the negativity of the team&#8217;s sarcasm (&#8216;I hope he enjoyed his vacation.&#8217;), fear of job security, and questioning George&#8217;s ability to lead the team. When there is a lack of information provided to the group and one person (whom is already frustrated, in this case Lara), left to deliver the message, the team is going to typically follow suit and engage\/support their team member in their feelings. In this case, Lara&#8217;s demeanor and frustration with George was front and center. The team reacted in a way that was expected based-on how the discussion was started and explained by Lara. Similar to kick-off of the project, the team would have benefited from George addressing the group, answering questions and having an actual dialogue, as opposed to sending Lara to be the messenger in an emotional state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"4\"><li>To Lara&#8217;s credit, she was able to make a shift during the meeting and transition from a negative, sarcasm filled discussion back to reviewing the notes on the flip charts that the team used. Lara made a clear transition when she asked the group if they could review some of the details they discussed and wrote down during the project, in an attempt to see if they stayed on-track with their rules and objectives of the meeting. This shift started the transition toward a discussion around the perceived failure of the group. Lara did a great job facilitating the discussion and winning-back the group&#8217;s interest by recognizing that they did many things they set-out to do from the onset of the project. She was able to highlight various items that regained the group&#8217;s engagement. As per Edmonson, &#8220;The barrier to learning from failure is rooted in strong psychological and social reactions that most people have to failing.&#8221; The group reacted as many would with disappointment and defensiveness as Lara explained George&#8217;s feedback. However, Lara was able to get the team of over the barrier and review some of the silver linings of the project: The team was able to work together on short notice, the team collaborated well as functional leaders for the first time, the group surprised themselves with their capabilities, and the group had a rejuvenated approach to wanted to further discuss and leverage their project output with George. Although it may have been a miss with what George asked, the group was confident that some of the items they compiled had applicability in benefiting the business. All of those points would have been overlooked had Lara not removed a barrier to discussing and learning from their &#8216;failure.&#8217;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 2:51pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Travis,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Great point of view. George didn\u2019t show professional courtesy to Lara during their short feedback meeting. &nbsp;I also, viewed Lara\u2019s body language as disinterested. &nbsp;George was very disappointed with the results, as he was expecting the group to come up with at least one or two ideas based on what he asked for.&nbsp; However, the group decided to take a risk that they knew could back fire on them, they concluded to present him a different project than the one he requested. &nbsp;The teams project caught George off guard which lead George to become frustrated; resulting in another display of his inability to communicate with his team.&nbsp; His actions exacerbated every member of the group and complicated everyones trust in the firm. On the other side, Lara\u2019s briefing didn\u2019t go as expected and she didn\u2019t take into consideration any anticipated results of the team changing Georges plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nice post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-Euri<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 8:52pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Given how many of us noted some serious issues with George\u2019s leadership, I wonder if Lara shouldn\u2019t take the report to George\u2019s boss.&nbsp; I&nbsp;personally try to follow the chain of leadership, but if the team was confidant in the&nbsp;effectiveness&nbsp;of their plan then taken it to the next level of management would be a possible solution.&nbsp; Obstructing&nbsp;any plan&nbsp;put forward by management in a passive aggressive manner is obviously inappropriate, but sometimes a great idea that isn\u2019t given proper consideration needs to be sent around barriers. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:18pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I find it very interesting that multiple comments in the group talk about Lara and team&#8217;s disregard for the request from George and how they did whatever they wanted. &nbsp;In prior weeks discussions as a group the general consensus was that George did not provide much information, support, or direction for his expectations; yet despite that as a group we are assigning the responsibility to the team freeing George of any culpability in the situation. &nbsp; As a group we fell right into the support the research of Sydney Finkelstein where executives take less blame for failures. &nbsp;In the end, George should have taken some accountability for the failure to meet his expectations instead of being so quickly to assign blame to the team. &nbsp;The group was exercising Exploratory Testing which is something that should be praised, not blamed. &nbsp;I think that feedforward from George in the beginning would have helped make this situation play out differently.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 8:43pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&nbsp; Great insight, Jenn.&nbsp; I would agree that&nbsp;our&nbsp;discussion posts were more focused on what the team could have done differently to accomplish what George&nbsp;wanted.&nbsp; If the structure of the fictional company had&nbsp;a&nbsp;less top down&nbsp;structure,&nbsp;then the&nbsp;outcome&nbsp;of the&nbsp;team\u2019s&nbsp;effort may&nbsp;have been&nbsp;successful.&nbsp; I was focused on the goal of team as giving George what he was asking for instead of the&nbsp;potentially more&nbsp;useful plan&nbsp;to&nbsp;&nbsp;effectively&nbsp;transforming their division.&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:29pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In working through my responses for the week, it looks like I never posted initial comments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>George\u2019s feedback was not provided in a productive fashion. The body language of the encounter between George and Lara show that she was not open to receiving the feedback.&nbsp; George could have picked up on this and adjusted his approach.&nbsp; In order for feedback to be beneficial the other party needs to be open minded in consuming the feedback.&nbsp; Creating an environment of blame and hostility is counterproductive.&nbsp; George took no responsibility for the failure.&nbsp; Additionally, George did not attempt to discuss with Lara how the failure occurred in order to try to learn from the situation.&nbsp;<\/li><li>I think that the initial reaction of the group was to be expected. They just spent two weeks working on what they felt to be an impossible mission, had thought creatively on how to offset the overhead costs, and were demoralized by the disappointment in their work product.&nbsp; Lara did an excellent job of quickly turning the group to a more positive mindset of looking at what went well in order to set them up for future success as a team.&nbsp; During this exercise, the group did not assign blame to one another, but rather was open minded about the series of events.&nbsp; Their failure was a failure in innovation operations.&nbsp; While they may have failed in meeting George\u2019s expectations their suggestions seem like something else that the company could benefit from.&nbsp;Sometimes one failure lays the groundwork for a different success.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 7:56pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>I agree that George should have tried to frame the situation as a learning experience, rather than accuse the team of not following his orders. I do like your comment about how George should have been able to change his approach once it was obvious that she was not receiving the feedback very well. While Lara did contribute somewhat to the negativity in the team meeting, I think the aforementioned mistakes by George are the primary reason for the discourse among the team, are obvious signs that he is not an effective communicator, and should not bode well for his future in the company unless he is able to do some self reflection &amp; make some quick corrections to his own behaviors. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Please respond to at least two of these questions.Post your initial replies no later than&nbsp;the middle&nbsp;of this lesson period; post your responses to your classmates&#8217; posts no later than the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of this lesson period, see the course schedule for specific dates.&nbsp;Please review the course expectations for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/courses\/1958712\/assignments\/10166229\">Individual Participation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How would you evaluate George\u2019s giving feedback to Lara? How would you evaluate Lara\u2019s receiving of the feedback? Use the readings to provide some insights on what they did well and how they could have improved.<\/li><li>How would you evaluate the way that the group responded to and processed the feedback on their performance? What did they do well and what could they have done better?<\/li><li>What challenges did Lara face in conducting the debrief meeting with the group? What did she do well with the debrief and what could he have improved on?<\/li><li>In what ways did the team follow the advice (or not) in the Edmondson chapter \u201cFailing better to succeed faster?\u201d<\/li><li>Having now watched the full life-cycle of the task force, think generally about what the video case implies about managing teams. What should group leaders do at the different stages of the group\u2019s life in terms of (a) design and (b) coaching? You might want to draw from Schwarz\u2019 Team Effectiveness Model (TEM) in answering this question (reproduced below).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/courses\/1958712\/files\/93339794\/preview\" alt=\"Schwarz 2017 TEM Model.jpg\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Search entries or author Filter replies by unread &nbsp; &nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Lesson 8 Discussion: Overhead Reduction Task Force Segments 5 &amp; 6 &#8211; Discussion Board Group B<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Sep 24, 2018 Sep 24, 2018 at 11:25am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>1. In the realm of feedback, the overall situation was tense. Lara&#8217;s&nbsp;arms were crossed and George was not enthused. From the beginning, Lara was not in&nbsp;a mindset to receive feedback and George was not in a sound position to give critical feedback. George really just dictated to Lara that the group was wrong and that he essentially already had ideas on what they would be doing. This is not conductive feedback at all. While feedback according to Goldsmith is static and limited, having at least that conversation would be more constructive for Lara to deliver back to the team then nothing but George&#8217;s frustration. I would even go further as to suggest feedforward would be a better conduit&nbsp;for future success of this team. According to Goldsmith, George could have picked the team&#8217;s assumption behavior as a possible behavior to shift for projects moving forward if he didn&#8217;t like where they went. He then could have given Lara and ultimately the team suggestions for future use like&nbsp;meeting with&nbsp;him midway through the project to verify that they were on track. Furthermore, as noted by the team, George&#8217;s framing of the project made it&nbsp;seem like he was asking the subject matter experts to find solutions and take liberty in them. Essentially to Goldsmith, a good leader is one who asks not tells. By setting up the team with that&nbsp;frame of reference,&nbsp;the team only did what was&nbsp;asked of them&nbsp;but&nbsp;George actually set them up to fail. One, he had his own ideas and two,&nbsp;he left the problem solving ambiguous. So far, George is limiting what the group can learn from their failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. The team somewhat conducted their own feedback process. After&nbsp;Lara&nbsp;came back to deliver George&#8217;s &#8220;feedback&#8221;, they took&nbsp;digs&nbsp;at George. They mentioned his vacation, they&nbsp;also were annoyed that George had ideas and were frankly worried about their jobs and whether to keep working for this man. Its very apparent that they were angry that George didn&#8217;t even see from their view point as subject matter experts that his way wouldn&#8217;t work. This type of behavior is not constructive nor&nbsp;professional but it did help them from being into the blame game as mentioned by&nbsp;Edmonson.&nbsp;After the initial shock and confusion on George&#8217;s response, they were frustrated but they channeled that frustration into understanding what they did. They themselves knew that the first week was not a conductive week in terms of work and solutions found. They determined&nbsp;that they should have come at the problems as they did in the second week on the first week. They also recognized how much free liberty they took on assumptions&nbsp;they made on&nbsp;George&#8217;s framing of the project; they determined another path forward and assumed if would be ok with George. Furthermore, one team member even going to mention that they should have called George as they asked before he left to determine if they were in line with the project. By recognizing these faults, it made them self aware of their own actions which can serve&nbsp;these members&nbsp;as memorable examples of what not to do in future projects or teams. They also recognized as a team how well they worked in the second week. They recognized how beneficial it was breaking out into smaller groups to share the load and be more strategic with the subject matter experts in the room. The very fact that Lara brought out &#8220;what are we doing well, what are we not doing well, what can we do better&#8221; tool and mentality&nbsp;also played into the feedback process for themselves. This is something that again can be used for future projects or teams as a way to&nbsp;review a team at the mid way point and the end point which they did.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:33am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>They should be worried about their jobs. George is the new boss and gave them a specific tasking. They completely ignore his direction because they found the task too difficult. This is not good followership and they are not showing George that they are competent. Instead they disregard his directions and come up with their own plan for the company. They spent time persuading George to allow them to contact him if needed at the halfway point and then decide not to reach out for more guidance.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:10pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hmm I think there is some leeway with what he said though. He stated that they were not to layoff the new employees as their only rule so looking at it from that perspective, George failed to completely develop boundaries for them.&nbsp; Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> on Oct 1, 2018 at 6:19pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:36am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li><ul><li>I agree that George is also to blame. He was not clear and concise. He was so rushed he failed them as their leader.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 11:06am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp;George and Lara were both very emotional from the start of this conversation. Therefore, productive feedback was neither given nor received well. George\u2019s demeanor came off as attacking to Lara and her team and he failed to explain why he did not like their plan. Lara immediately went into defense mode as one naturally does when they feel someone is attacking them. Both Lara and George\u2019s comments focused on the past and what the other person did wrong. One of Goldsmith\u2019s principles on feedforward is, \u201cIt can be more productive to help people learn to be \u2018right,\u2019 than prove they were \u2018wrong\u2019\u201d (Goldsmith 2015). George and Lara could have had a more productive conversation if they were not playing the blame game. Neither one of them provided helpful tips on how to improve going forward (Goldsmith 2015). Furthermore, Lara\u2019s body language of shaking her head and looking down implied that she was no longer listening to George, which probably angered him further and led him to be defensive. He stated that perhaps Lara knew what\u2019s best for this division better than him. Since he is a new manager and Lara probably does know the company better than he does, he should be able to ask the people around him who have subject matter expertise and look to them for suggestions for improvement (Goldsmith 2005). He asserted his authority over Lara and her team by dismissing their plan because it was not the way he wanted to cut costs. He further stated that they will only cut overhead costs his way. This no longer sounds like a team effort, but an assembly line with a top-down structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.&nbsp;This task force followed Edmondson\u2019s advice in the following ways: they acknowledged failure, analyzed their process and used what they learned to apply in the future, and lastly, they developed a learning approach to failure. The team did admit that they did not complete the task that George asked of them. Their initial responses indicated that they may not see their fault in this situation, but by admitting their failure, they accepted their role in making George upset. Furthermore, the team analyzed what they did well and what they did not do well. By discussing what they should keep doing and what they can improve on, they developed as a team and helped themselves improve for their future tasks. I don\u2019t think that this team will waste another week arguing about a task in the future. This team\u2019s reflection on their team process and results displayed a shift from advocacy orientation to inquiry orientation. They initially exhibited advocacy orientation by blaming George\u2019s orders and his lack of trust in the team for their failure to complete the task. However, through Lara\u2019s facilitation they were able to transform their outlook to a more inquiry-based orientation, which helped them learn from their work together as a group. They established greater respect for one another through this process and seem to be willing to bring that teamwork spirit with them in their future endeavors as a team. This team was able to take an impossible task which inevitably led to their failure, and managed to turn that into an opportunity to learn and apply their gained knowledge to their future tasks. They walked away feeling accomplished and that is what learning from failure is ultimately about.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 29, 2018 Sep 29, 2018 at 7:04am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I agree. George provided poor feedback and Lara did not receive that poor feedback well. George was blunt and unpleasant. His feedback was not constructive and provided zero value. Lara was visibly uncomfortable with the feedback and felt restricted when she tried to explain her side. The feedback did not provide any value to Lara and only put down the efforts of her team and her over the past 2 weeks.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:03pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Rubi, I too really thought that Lara did a good job at turning the team to a reflection session where they could talk about the successors in their failures. &nbsp;This conversation was successful at avoiding finger-pointing for the failure and allowed them to learn from their mistakes. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 4:09pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2)&nbsp; Upon hearing the news of George\u2019s reaction, the team did not take it particularly well.&nbsp; Despite this being a completely natural and predictable response, it is not the best course of action to take to reflect in a meaningful way.&nbsp; At first, the team was irritated, disappointed, and perhaps slightly hostile to message Lara delivered. &nbsp;They immediately found external sources for their failure, such a declaring George as untrustworthy and claiming that they were set up for disaster.&nbsp; Interestingly, as described in <em>Have the Courage to Ask<\/em>, the team did not for a moment consider the possibility that they did not bring the skills or knowledge required to get the job done.&nbsp; However, they did realize that the risk they took in redefining the project deliverable was a bad decision and that they should have tried to contact George.&nbsp; The team did well at reminiscing on what they did well at and what they did not.&nbsp; They noted that overall, they worked well together on difficult issues and could deliver a solution.&nbsp; On the other hand, they realized that some people steam rolled other ideas in some cases and that not every perspective was fully understood.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3)&nbsp; Lara faced the large challenge of reporting failure to her team and trying to remain positive in the face of it.&nbsp; Her biggest success was in reframing the team\u2019s letdown into a learning experience.&nbsp; She demonstrated an optimistic attitude and encouraged the team to see the good in what they had done.&nbsp; By encouraging the rest of the members to reflect, they uncovered the team strengths they took advantage of to deliver a novel, but not desired, solution to the problem presented to them.&nbsp; Lara put emphasis on the growth that the team underwent through two challenging weeks and promoted learning from mistakes.&nbsp; She championed the outcome of the group, going as far to state that she would like to have another meeting with George to focus on the progress the team did make in fostering teamwork and building relationships.&nbsp; However, although Lara enabled the to team to see their strengths, she failed to entirely complete the feedforward process.&nbsp; How can the team use those strengths in the next project to achieve greater success?&nbsp; Can newfound abilities be applied in a certain way that could synergize with George in future interactions?&nbsp; Had Lara provided more feedforward, she could have prepared her team for the upcoming meeting with George and success overall.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:28am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes if Lara had provided some useful feedforward the team could prepare themselves for the upcoming meeting with George. The task force seems to acknowledge that they completed disregarded their boss&#8217;s guidelines. Lara was able to get the members to reflect what was beneficial during their two weeks together. Hopefully the team learned how to work together more effectively going forward in the event George doesn&#8217;t do the obvious thing and fire all of them to get his reduction. Then George could promote from within and not provide as high a compensation plan. Solution seems too easy.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:05pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Was it really blatant disregard or more a lack of accessibility for feedback?<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:33pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>A combination of both. As poor a job George did providing guidance the one thing he accurately did was give them the goal. The team abandoned that goal and went in another direction.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 12:32pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Frank, I agree that the team did well reflecting on their successes and failures in the follow up meeting with Lara, but I think they missed an opportunity in recognizing a blind spot.&nbsp; From the first meeting with George and Lara they were clearly skeptical of the task and how it could be achieved.&nbsp; That initial reluctance juxtaposed with their reaction to the news of George&#8217;s displeasure shows a group that was never truly all in on the project.&nbsp; Not acknowledging that this lack of openness may have negatively impacted the end result is a missed opportunity with this project and provides an unclear outlook for future projects assigned by George.&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 27, 2018 Sep 27, 2018 at 7:06pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The feedback session between George and Lara was stressful to observe. George provides downward feedback to Lara but was unwilling to listen to her upward feedback. Tension increased as George holds Lara accountable for her results that did not meet his expectations. His feedback was negative and non-constructive. In my opinion, this meeting was effective but was handled improperly.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting was effective because George communicates his dissatisfaction with Lara\u2019s results. Then, he proceeds to tell Lara the reduction is possible in contrast to her findings. I believe George comes off as shrewd in this conversation because he reacts out of emotions rather than providing constructive feedback. Lara recognizes his dissatisfaction and negativity which manifests into frustration. George improperly handles holding Lara accountable because she feels fear and confusion after this conversation, instead of support and understanding of next step action items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To put it briefly, this conversation could have improved if George provided constructive feedback, feedforward or listened to upward feedback. Quality communication could have yielded a more dynamic conversation that resulted in motivation and preparation for future presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\"><li>The group responded poorly to the feedback Lara shared. Members quickly became disgruntled by the feedback which resulted in upward feedback to Lara. They felt setup for failure because George had a plan to reduce overhead from the start. Lara empathized with group and answered questions to the best of her ability, but the overall group well-being was negative.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, Lara conducted a start, stop and continue segment to ground the team and review context. I felt this was a value-added session to refocus the group and identify opportunities. In my opinion, Lara should have started the meeting by framing the feedback into a constructive and positive next step solution. Feedforward would have been a valuable tool to shape the mindset of the group before the situation got carried away with complaints.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:15am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You are spot on. George effectively explained his displeasure with the results. He may not have expressed himself in the best way but keep in mind that the team was tasked to do one thing and they ditched that idea since they considered it impossible. Instead of contacting George for further guidance they hatched a&nbsp;cockamamie plan to increase profits. Lara does not have a good handle on her team debrief either. As the project leader during George&#8217;s absence she should take control of the room and explain how she allowed the team to fail. Henry Ford said it best; &#8220;Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.&#8221; Lara should convey George&#8217;s message with tact and prepare the team for the upcoming meeting with George and other key figures in the company. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898598\">Patrick Ducey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 28, 2018 Sep 28, 2018 at 2:54pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp; &nbsp;Observing the interaction between George and Lara revealed an intense situation.&nbsp; George was highly critical of Lara and her team\u2019s work and did not hold back in letting her know that it was unacceptable.&nbsp; He dismissed the work entirely and even went on to say that he had come up with some ideas of his own while on vacation that the group can use.&nbsp; It is understandable that George was disappointed with the final output of this task force, but to improve his feedback it may have been more effective for him to frame their failure as a by-product of experimentation.&nbsp; Lara was clearly disappointed as the receiver of this feedback and did not agree with George, but she did do a good job of keeping her composure despite the negative feedback.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.&nbsp;When Lara reported back to the team after her difficult meeting with George, the team initially did not process the feedback well.&nbsp; They immediately reverted to the speculation they showed in earlier segments of the task force on whether to trust George as their new boss or not and continued to complain about the vacation.&nbsp; However, once Lara guides the group to be more reflective and consider what could have been done better, some of them are more level-headed and acknowledge their part in the apparent failure.&nbsp; They consider their assumption that he would be okay with their changes to be a mistake and admit that they should have done their best to contact him. &nbsp;Like George\u2019s feedback meeting with Lara, Lara could have done a better job framing the group\u2019s failure in this meeting.&nbsp; Rather than allowing the initial anger in the room to begin she could have discussed how this failure comes naturally with the experimentation that they performed and to make less assumptions on tasks going forward.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 1:03am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Agreed that Lara took the feedback like a champ. George did not frame the feedback in the best way but can you really blame him. He tasked Lara and her team to start working on a plan to reduce overhead by 20% that could be implemented within 4 months. The team decided to disregard their boss&#8217;s direction and instead did whatever they wanted. What they ended up with was a&nbsp;cockamamie plan to increase profits.&nbsp;Had the team come up with some solutions to the actual tasking they received&nbsp;the feedback session may have turned out differently. They probably should&#8217;ve called George at the halfway point. They insisted on the opportunity to reach him while on his well-deserved vacation and then decided not to.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 9:56pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pat,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You do make a great point about the interaction between George and Lara; intense is a good word for it.&nbsp; It really is a demonstration of her character that she kept calm, looked for the positives in the team and situation, and is continuing to push forward with a good attitude.&nbsp; Had she took on a demeanor as, intense we shall say, as George, she could have went back to the team and damaged their morale even more and derailed them even further.&nbsp; To the same point, I believe that George handled that interaction very poorly.&nbsp; His delivery and mannerisms presented to Lara in that meeting are just rude, and he once again frames himself as a poor leader.&nbsp; The way he speaks about his ideas from the mountains is disrespectful to the effort the team did put in and undermines the need of the team altogether.&nbsp; Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> on Oct 4, 2018 at 9:57pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 5, 2018 Oct 5, 2018 at 7:44am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hi Patrick,<br><br>I think George should have maintained his directness in providing feedback, because in my opinion that is the most efficient way to provide feedback. However, I agree that he should not have dismissed the group\u2019s work all together. As for the team, I can understand their frustrations and it\u2019s better they vent together without George as opposed to giving him the passive aggressive treatment. Venting together also has a way of bringing people closer, which can be great for teams that have to work together.<br><br>Thanks,<br>Rubi <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 29, 2018 Sep 29, 2018 at 9:37pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>George\u2019s feedback to Lara was lousy. Goldsmith states \u201cthere is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred\u2014not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.\u201d George simply focused on the fact that the team didn\u2019t do as he instructed and instead came up with a cockamamie plan to increase profits. George was to focused on what he wants done to consider other options. He did not portray this very well to Lara. This was evident in the response Lara had to the feedback session. She seemed uncomfortable. Lara was unable to explain the team\u2019s position and was visibly frustrated. Quality feedback was neither delivered nor received.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\"><li>Lara faced many challenges while debriefing her team. She did not provide useful feedback to the team. Lara seemed to still be flustered from her interaction with George and it hindered her ability to recall with accuracy the results of his feedback; granted George\u2019s feedback to Lara was as beneficial as ascreen door on a submarine. Lara was unable to articulate George\u2019s response with clarity and stumbled her way to a perfectly incoherent thought. Lara did successfully articulate that George was upset but that is the extent of what went well during the debrief. Lara could have mentioned how they were given direct guidance to work towards by their leader and they decided to ignore the boss\u2019s directions. She could have mentioned that George\u2019s response should have been expected considering they disregarded his guidance and instead did what ever they pleased.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:14pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I think you could tell by both parties that they were defensive towards one another and unhappy with one another. George&#8217;s tone lacked professionalism in regards to Lara and she had her hands crossed as a way to protect herself. Both parties have to be receptive for any kind of feedback or feedforward to mean something. If anything, George should have met with the entire group rather than just Lara to see and give feedback on what their solution was.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 11:20pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Great point Alexis. I agree that both parties were defensive towards each other which diminished the receptivity for any kind of feedback or feedforward. In my opinion, Lara and George should have a follow up meeting when tensions are lower. This meeting should have occurred before Lara met with the team. Their conversation should begin with establishing psychological safety by setting ground rules; an example could be George give feedback first, Lara responds, then Lara provides George upward feedback, and George responds. This would encourage listening to learn and prevent an unprofessional environment. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> on Oct 1, 2018 at 11:21pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 8:41pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We all agree that Lara and George were more emotional and defensive towards each other than is appropriate for a productive work environment.&nbsp; I was surprised to see at the beginning of the video, that George was reading the proposal in front of Lara.&nbsp; For George to ask to meet with Lara and then read the proposal in front of her, shows a disrespect for Lara&#8217;s time.&nbsp; If George had read the proposal prior to his meeting with Lara, he would have had time to compose himself and approach the meeting without reacting emotionally, yet still conveying his disappointment with the team&#8217;s proposal.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:07am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Christine- I agree with you that George had a level of disrepect for Lara in both the kick-off discussion of the project, as well as in the final feedback session. It&#8217;s clear, based-on the original group discussion where George addressed the group that his demeanor was different in a group environment. I&#8217;m of the belief that having an emotional messenger (in this case, Lara) is a huge negative. The message, feedback and content is lost when delivering to the larger group and masked by emotion. In a more effective setting, I have to believe George and team would have been much better off being addressed as a group, with a conversation and active feedback loop, as opposed to the scenario that played-out with George to Lara, Lara to group.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:47am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>Completely agree Christine. Why wouldn&#8217;t George be prepared for the meeting with Lara by having already read her report. Poor form indeed.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 12:40am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I agree Alexis. George should have met with the entire team after meeting with Lara. He could have gotten Lara&#8217;s report and discussed with her then had the team get together and provide feedback to them. This was not handled well on any front. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888866\">David Gonzalez<\/a> on Oct 7, 2018 at 12:41am <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6886968\">Rubina Haroon<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 5, 2018 Oct 5, 2018 at 7:53am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hi David,<br>I agree that George simply wasn\u2019t in the mindset of the opportunity for the future. A 20% increase in revenue is awesome! At the same time, they didn\u2019t do what he asked of them. And if this was a test for the team, they clearly failed.&nbsp;<br>Lara did bring her flustered attitude to the meeting. I noticed&nbsp;that she also&nbsp;turned the situation around once she saw the reaction from her&nbsp;team. They were upset with George, which led her to play the Devil\u2019s advocate and allow the team to see how they could have been wrong in this situation. By changing the entire vibe of the room, Lara&nbsp;showed&nbsp;her leadership ability.&nbsp;<br>Thanks,Rubi<br><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a> (1 like)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 11:56am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Edmondson and Zofi emphasized the importance of language in this week&#8217;s readings, when talking about failure and when working in teams.&nbsp; George referred to the task force reduction team as &#8220;you people&#8221; twice.&nbsp; This language creates a boundary distancing George from his coworkers.&nbsp; It erodes trust. As the discussion board posts have already stated, George gave direct feedback, but managed it poorly.&nbsp; Lara felt attacked and responded defensively.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that George did well was to specifically state that in the future, the team should follow his given task as it is stated.&nbsp; This could be considered feedforward.&nbsp; However, coming at the heels of negative feedback, the comments will probably not have the positive effects that Goldsmith mentioned in his article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Edmondson proposes that since failure is inevitable, management should make it psychologically safe to report.&nbsp; This allows problems to be discussed, and promotes stopping failed projects sooner.&nbsp; In the first team meeting, George said that he expected the team to only have a 50% chance of success. Thus he made failure acceptable.&nbsp; This is a good step.&nbsp; However, the team did not feel psychologically safe with George. This is evidenced by them being worried about their jobs after George rejected their proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;The failed proposal could have been stopped sooner with a phone call.&nbsp; Perhaps the phone call would have been made if the team felt psychologically safe with George or if a member had a pre-existing relationship with George.&nbsp;&nbsp;Instead, the team spent another week developing a failed proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Rubi mentioned, the team did a good job discussing their failure afterwards.&nbsp; They acknowledged that the first week of time had been wasted as they defended their positions.&nbsp; They agreed that a key team member, George, was missing when they decided to change the task force&#8217;s goal.&nbsp; Their failure analysis should help them avoid these pitfalls as the task force moves forward with George&#8217;s idea, and ideally with George present in the room.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6893075\">Andre Elliott<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 11:09pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Christine,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do believe George was acting out of emotions rather than providing constructive criticism. This is apparent in verbal and non-verbal communication to Lara. I agree that the use of language is important and could build tension between George and his coworkers. In contrast, I do not believe language would erode trust. Language definitely doesn&#8217;t help this situation, but lack of communication and constructive feedback are impacting trust the most. I believe George&#8217;s lack&nbsp; transparency about how rather than what, in regards to feedback and next steps to reduce overhead, are eroding trust in this situation (but verbal and non-verbal communication definitely play a factor).&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890772\">Christine Kelsey<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 8:56pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>Andre, I agree that lack of communication and constructive feedback can erode trust.&nbsp; However, the language that George used also contributes because he put himself apart from the task force reduction team.&nbsp; He is drawing boundary lines between &#8220;us&#8221; and &#8220;them&#8221;.&nbsp; By asking what &#8220;you people&#8221; were thinking, George implies that he thinks differently from the task force team.&nbsp; It is not too far a reach to then say that perhaps they have different motivations and goals.&nbsp; From previous videos, we know that the task force team wants to preserve the company, which has been in a lull recently.&nbsp; What does George want? If you question what motivates someone or what their end goal is, it is hard to trust them.&nbsp; That is why I equated George&#8217;s language as a contributing factor to a reduction in trust between him and the task force team. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 8:22pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp; George\u2019s feedback was very straight forward but showed a lot of emotions and disappointment from his side. I consider that he did good by being clear about what he expected and that the goal reached by the team was not what they discussed during the kickoff meeting and far from what he expected. However, his emotions interfered in the way he expressed his disappointment leaving Lara with a bad feeling and without the possibility of discussing what they did wrong and how to move forward from that point as a team. He couldn\u2019t transmit the failure as an opportunity to learn and instead he just shared a feeling of anger and disappointment. On the other hand, Lara seemed to be in shock with the results of the risk her and her team took. She tried to explain to George the reason of the change in their goal, but George\u2019s attitude didn\u2019t leave her room to much explanation or discussion of the situation. I believe that from both sides there was a failure in the way they provided and received feedback and there was not feedforward except from the fact that George expressed to her that he had a few ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3.&nbsp; The team knew they took a risk at presenting a different project to George than the one he asked for. However, they seemed to be expecting more clarification from George\u2019s side. When conducting the debrief, Lara faced the challenge of sharing a very strong hard negative feedback coming from George while trying to keep the team motivated and also pointing at what they did achieve as a team. I believe that the way she shared the information with them was fine, however, she showed a lot of emotions as well; this resulted in members of the team being disappointed, angry, demotivated, and unaware of how to move forward from that. On the other hand, I believe that she tried to balance the situation by trying to help the team focused on what they did achieve, on how good they worked together even by being the first time they were put in that situation, how well they communicated, and also how great results came from that team work even if those results were not the ones expected from George. It is important to recognize the mistake made but also important to look into those things that they learned along the path.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a> Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 6:52pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Euri, That is a very interesting perspective on George.&nbsp; I tried to view myself through the eyes of George and Lara and found myself agreeing with you on both of them.&nbsp; However, while both of them did show emotion within that meeting, and outside of it, I found the disappointment that George portrayed easier to understand.&nbsp; From the perspective of George, he tasked the team with the task of a reduction in overhead by a specific point in time.&nbsp; While he was not clear on the intent of the reduction or how he would like it done, he was clear that the ultimate goal was an overhead reduction.&nbsp; From my perspective, it almost sounded as if he would have been happier seeing a 15% reduction then a mix of revenue and overhead reductions.&nbsp; Right or wrong, emotions can sneak into business, and his disappointment in the management was evident. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 9:01pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.) Obviously this was not the outcome that Lara was looking for, and the mood was very tense &amp; uncomfortable. I believe that George should have framed the situation more positively as a learning opportunity, perhaps seeing it as experimentation on the road to the correct solution to the overhead problem. Instead, he criticized Lara &amp; the team harshly, coming off condescendingly, which will likely cause resentment and divisiveness between the two. It would have been better if George had met with the entire team, and solicited their feedback on his concerns while mixing his positive and negative feedback, fostering a learning environment, allowing opportunity to brainstorm new ideas, and more than likely coming up with a more acceptable solution than the one that was proposed earlier as a result. Lara did not receive the feedback well as expected, it may have been better if she had tried to convince George to look at this as a learning opportunity to continue to refine the proposal with the team at the next meeting. Obviously, George did not appear to be in the mood for much feedback to his own opinions.<br><br>2.) The team was upset, and very resentful about the situation. I got the impression that the team felt left in the dark, as they were receiving his criticism second hand from Lara, instead of directly from him. I want to re-iterate that I think it would have been better if George had talked directly to the team himself, this would have done a better job of giving the impression that he was one of them. Instead, he gave them a task, disappeared for two weeks, then criticized them on their work when he returned. This has caused the team to split between them &amp; Laura, and George, and has also left them somewhat confused on the motive for his criticisms. However, on a more positive note, the team did seem to enjoy working with each other once they actually got down to the business of creating the overhead proposal for George, and were surprised that they were able to accomplish as much as they did on such short notice, which appears will build some positive relationships among the team members. Even though they did go through lessons learned, I think they should have spent some time to come up with a strategy for how they should approach the situation once they do meet with George. If possible, they could try to lead the meeting in a more positive direction, and try to convince him that he needs to approach this as more of a learning opportunity.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890239\">Alexis Farrell<\/a> Oct 1, 2018 Oct 1, 2018 at 6:19pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I mentioned this as well about George meeting with the entire team and not just Lara. Furthermore, he got upset about their solution when the only criteria was to not lay off employees that were just hired. If anything, the team was successful under his guidelines. If George was upset, then it is his fault for not giving more clear boundaries for the team to move within. A team leader can&#8217;t get mad at a team for using creative solutions if said solutions where not clearly abolished from the guidelines, this is like saying even though you played by the rules, I still don&#8217;t like how you did it so you are wrong. Not characteristics of a leader I and most people want to follow and the team can clearly wonder if they want to continue working for George.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6898027\">Frank D&#8217;Ambrosio<\/a> Oct 4, 2018 Oct 4, 2018 at 10:11pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>I agree that George not holding this feedback meeting with the entire team is odd.&nbsp; Now there is no vacation to run off to, yet he still avoids meeting with the team.&nbsp; Why is this?&nbsp; Can he not handle being that negative to a room full of people, or as it seemed in his first meeting with the team, is he uncomfortable with communicating with a large group?&nbsp; Furthermore, he establishes he has come up with the ideas he was looking for all along by himself.&nbsp; He has really positioned himself as an independent executor, not a visionary inspiring collaboration in a learning environment.&nbsp; On the other hand, I may be too hard on George &#8211; his specially appointed team has failed him in presenting a solution to a very specific problem and perhaps now he feels he needs to take absolute control to get the results he wants.&nbsp; It would be a hard position to be in as a leader. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sep 30, 2018 Sep 30, 2018 at 9:33pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Referencing Edmondson \u201cTeaming\u201d chapter 5&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"3\"><li>The&nbsp;debriefing&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;was challenging&nbsp;for Lara to manage due to the low&nbsp;morale&nbsp;of the team.&nbsp; The team felt like they had accomplished the creation of a useable plan even if&nbsp;it&nbsp;may not have been exactly what George had set as the goal.&nbsp; When someone knows that the quality of their work is poor then they are less likely to have to be upset by failure.&nbsp; The issue Lara faced was a Team which seemed to believe in the quality of their effort but not in George\u2019s leadership and ability to&nbsp;evaluate&nbsp;their plan&nbsp;effectively.&nbsp; She did a good job of trying to focus the team on the things the learned about each other and how to work as a team.&nbsp; She highlighted what areas of the team process could still be improved on.&nbsp; The team recognized their failure to check in with George before refocusing the&nbsp;team\u2019s goal on&nbsp;profitability&nbsp;instead of just reducing costs.&nbsp; &nbsp;Lara failed to confront the team\u2019s need to work with George again in the future.&nbsp; Properly&nbsp;identifying how George approaches teamwork and what his expectations are would have helped the team to prevent&nbsp;similar&nbsp;issues in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>The teamsuccessfully&nbsp;recognized&nbsp;the primary reason for&nbsp;their&nbsp;failure was failing to check if the change in their goal was acceptable.&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, the team did not view this as an opportunity to work on their communication with George.&nbsp; They failed to address their insecurity with their future&nbsp;employment&nbsp;and with George\u2019s ability to make the changes required for the divisions long term&nbsp;survival.&nbsp; A learning frame toward failure is not easy to accomplish in an environment where even a small failure is unacceptable.&nbsp; The team attempted to make the most of their failure to produce the desired results by focusing on how well their&nbsp;ability&nbsp;to work as a team improved over the two weeks.&nbsp; The team failed in&nbsp;identifying&nbsp;potential&nbsp;sources of failure in a timely manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;The team thought there was only a 50% chance of George accepting their change in direction.&nbsp; The entire&nbsp;second&nbsp;week of the project was wasted in pursue the wrong goal which could have been avoided with one phone call to George.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a> Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:04am<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Regarding the failure reaction (#4), I was under the impression that the team agreed with George, prior to his departure to touch-base midway through his vacation and their project period to ensure they were on the right track. Had they utilized the time George agreed to talk, some of the disappointment and project miss may have been avoided. Similar to the project kick-off scenario, I have to expect a final discussion where George addresses the group and provides feedback, as well as answers questions. One of the biggest misses, in both the kick-off and feedback was having Lara be the messenger in an emotional state. What are your thoughts? <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6890557\">James Stover<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 at 6:41pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2\/3.&nbsp; In my opinion, the team performed poorly in receiving the feedback received from George.&nbsp; First, the team leader, Lara, limited her ability to act as an authority by contributing to the negativity portrayed by the group.&nbsp; By joining the rest of the group in complaining about the decision of George, she created an environment of &#8220;group think&#8221; that led to escalating complaints about the outcome and process.&nbsp; While it is understandable that Lara was disappointed by the outcome, she created a psychologically unsafe condition where any individual that wanted to speak up could have felt intimidated by her negativity.&nbsp; On a positive note, the critique at the end where they went back and looked at the lessons learned (both positive and negative) will allow for a more productive initiative the next time they are tasked with something (assuming they all have jobs!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.&nbsp; Earlier in the process (albeit 1 week in) Lara recognized the failures that were occuring within the brainstorming and evaluation of the process.&nbsp; It was the recognition that I believe was the biggest accomplishment of the entire group.&nbsp; Through this recognition, Lara realized that the most successful approach would be to break into smaller groups and do quick action critiques of revenue and overhead ideas.&nbsp; Each member of the team began to recognize that their were not contributing to the outcome, but instead hindering the potential solution.&nbsp; The quick action review led to plausible ideas to &#8220;save&#8221; the department in creative ways that would be evaluated by senior management.&nbsp; While the solution was not ultimately adopted, the quick action critiques were an effective way for the team to identify solutions and work together better as a team.<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 7:46pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I like the point about Lara contributing to the negative atmosphere in the team meeting, which is something I didn&#8217;t go into much detail about in my post. While I understand that Lara has been put into a very uncomfortable situation, I think the best thing she could have done was to try not to contribute any more to the negativity towards George, and try to frame the situation in as well as possible, or at least try to remain neutral. It did create an environment where any opposing opinions would probably not be shared for fear of being received poorly; though George is still the primary cause of the poor attitude among the group. Edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> on Oct 7, 2018 at 7:48pm <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6871913\">Travis James Homer<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 3, 2018 Oct 3, 2018 at 7:01am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"2\"><li>I focused on the way the group processed and received the feedback being provided; first Lara from George&#8217;s comments, followed-by the largest group reacting to Lara&#8217;s description and summary. It&#8217;s somewhat difficult to classify Lara&#8217;s reaction to feedback, as George&#8217;s general approach to the conversation was negative, one-sided and lacked content to actually provide the detail to understand what George recognized or how he regarded the information provided outside of one overall feeling; that the team missed. Lara&#8217;s reaction to George&#8217;s feedback was emotional, with body language confirming her frustration and upset feeling. It was clear that Lara wanted to provide detail and explain the group&#8217;s position, approach and output. However, she was limited by interruption and George&#8217;s to-the-point feedback. Lara clearly wanted to further discuss, but that was not going to happen. Her body language was off-putting and she reverted to a defense mechanism quickly with arms folded, leaning back away from engagement, looking away from George when speaking and even abruptly leaving the office and closing the door in disgust. It was evidence that Lara was upset. Her emotion was carried outward and she left little to be questioned.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Lara&#8217;s approach to providing feedback to the group maintained a similar approach to that of George. She opened the conversation with &#8216;he didn&#8217;t go for it,&#8217; which set the tone with the group and immediately initiated discussion of disgust, frustration, excuses and an overall group think scenario that the team was a collective victim in this scenario. Lara failed to present the feedback in a way that would elicit conversation outside of the negativity of the team&#8217;s sarcasm (&#8216;I hope he enjoyed his vacation.&#8217;), fear of job security, and questioning George&#8217;s ability to lead the team. When there is a lack of information provided to the group and one person (whom is already frustrated, in this case Lara), left to deliver the message, the team is going to typically follow suit and engage\/support their team member in their feelings. In this case, Lara&#8217;s demeanor and frustration with George was front and center. The team reacted in a way that was expected based-on how the discussion was started and explained by Lara. Similar to kick-off of the project, the team would have benefited from George addressing the group, answering questions and having an actual dialogue, as opposed to sending Lara to be the messenger in an emotional state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"4\"><li>To Lara&#8217;s credit, she was able to make a shift during the meeting and transition from a negative, sarcasm filled discussion back to reviewing the notes on the flip charts that the team used. Lara made a clear transition when she asked the group if they could review some of the details they discussed and wrote down during the project, in an attempt to see if they stayed on-track with their rules and objectives of the meeting. This shift started the transition toward a discussion around the perceived failure of the group. Lara did a great job facilitating the discussion and winning-back the group&#8217;s interest by recognizing that they did many things they set-out to do from the onset of the project. She was able to highlight various items that regained the group&#8217;s engagement. As per Edmonson, &#8220;The barrier to learning from failure is rooted in strong psychological and social reactions that most people have to failing.&#8221; The group reacted as many would with disappointment and defensiveness as Lara explained George&#8217;s feedback. However, Lara was able to get the team of over the barrier and review some of the silver linings of the project: The team was able to work together on short notice, the team collaborated well as functional leaders for the first time, the group surprised themselves with their capabilities, and the group had a rejuvenated approach to wanted to further discuss and leverage their project output with George. Although it may have been a miss with what George asked, the group was confident that some of the items they compiled had applicability in benefiting the business. All of those points would have been overlooked had Lara not removed a barrier to discussing and learning from their &#8216;failure.&#8217;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899769\">Euriviades Rafael Beltre<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 2:51pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi Travis,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Great point of view. George didn\u2019t show professional courtesy to Lara during their short feedback meeting. &nbsp;I also, viewed Lara\u2019s body language as disinterested. &nbsp;George was very disappointed with the results, as he was expecting the group to come up with at least one or two ideas based on what he asked for.&nbsp; However, the group decided to take a risk that they knew could back fire on them, they concluded to present him a different project than the one he requested. &nbsp;The teams project caught George off guard which lead George to become frustrated; resulting in another display of his inability to communicate with his team.&nbsp; His actions exacerbated every member of the group and complicated everyones trust in the firm. On the other side, Lara\u2019s briefing didn\u2019t go as expected and she didn\u2019t take into consideration any anticipated results of the team changing Georges plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nice post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-Euri<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 8:52pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Given how many of us noted some serious issues with George\u2019s leadership, I wonder if Lara shouldn\u2019t take the report to George\u2019s boss.&nbsp; I&nbsp;personally try to follow the chain of leadership, but if the team was confidant in the&nbsp;effectiveness&nbsp;of their plan then taken it to the next level of management would be a possible solution.&nbsp; Obstructing&nbsp;any plan&nbsp;put forward by management in a passive aggressive manner is obviously inappropriate, but sometimes a great idea that isn\u2019t given proper consideration needs to be sent around barriers. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:18pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I find it very interesting that multiple comments in the group talk about Lara and team&#8217;s disregard for the request from George and how they did whatever they wanted. &nbsp;In prior weeks discussions as a group the general consensus was that George did not provide much information, support, or direction for his expectations; yet despite that as a group we are assigning the responsibility to the team freeing George of any culpability in the situation. &nbsp; As a group we fell right into the support the research of Sydney Finkelstein where executives take less blame for failures. &nbsp;In the end, George should have taken some accountability for the failure to meet his expectations instead of being so quickly to assign blame to the team. &nbsp;The group was exercising Exploratory Testing which is something that should be praised, not blamed. &nbsp;I think that feedforward from George in the beginning would have helped make this situation play out differently.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6896559\">Chadwick Hershey<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 8:43pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&nbsp; Great insight, Jenn.&nbsp; I would agree that&nbsp;our&nbsp;discussion posts were more focused on what the team could have done differently to accomplish what George&nbsp;wanted.&nbsp; If the structure of the fictional company had&nbsp;a&nbsp;less top down&nbsp;structure,&nbsp;then the&nbsp;outcome&nbsp;of the&nbsp;team\u2019s&nbsp;effort may&nbsp;have been&nbsp;successful.&nbsp; I was focused on the goal of team as giving George what he was asking for instead of the&nbsp;potentially more&nbsp;useful plan&nbsp;to&nbsp;&nbsp;effectively&nbsp;transforming their division.&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"> Collapse Subdiscussion <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6899767\">Jennifer Hood<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 3:29pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In working through my responses for the week, it looks like I never posted initial comments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>George\u2019s feedback was not provided in a productive fashion. The body language of the encounter between George and Lara show that she was not open to receiving the feedback.&nbsp; George could have picked up on this and adjusted his approach.&nbsp; In order for feedback to be beneficial the other party needs to be open minded in consuming the feedback.&nbsp; Creating an environment of blame and hostility is counterproductive.&nbsp; George took no responsibility for the failure.&nbsp; Additionally, George did not attempt to discuss with Lara how the failure occurred in order to try to learn from the situation.&nbsp;<\/li><li>I think that the initial reaction of the group was to be expected. They just spent two weeks working on what they felt to be an impossible mission, had thought creatively on how to offset the overhead costs, and were demoralized by the disappointment in their work product.&nbsp; Lara did an excellent job of quickly turning the group to a more positive mindset of looking at what went well in order to set them up for future success as a team.&nbsp; During this exercise, the group did not assign blame to one another, but rather was open minded about the series of events.&nbsp; Their failure was a failure in innovation operations.&nbsp; While they may have failed in meeting George\u2019s expectations their suggestions seem like something else that the company could benefit from.&nbsp;Sometimes one failure lays the groundwork for a different success.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Collapse Subdiscussion<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/users\/6888135\">Cody Holt<\/a> Oct 7, 2018 Oct 7, 2018 at 7:56pm<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><ul><li>I agree that George should have tried to frame the situation as a learning experience, rather than accuse the team of not following his orders. I do like your comment about how George should have been able to change his approach once it was obvious that she was not receiving the feedback very well. While Lara did contribute somewhat to the negativity in the team meeting, I think the aforementioned mistakes by George are the primary reason for the discourse among the team, are obvious signs that he is not an effective communicator, and should not bode well for his future in the company unless he is able to do some self reflection &amp; make some quick corrections to his own behaviors. <a href=\"https:\/\/psu.instructure.com\/groups\/451282\/discussion_topics\/12134497#\">Reply Reply to Comment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"has-inline-color has-pale-cyan-blue-color\">WE&#8217;VE HAD A GOOD SUCCESS RATE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT. PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/homeworkaider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/weer.png\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is weer.png\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Please respond to at least two of these questions.Post your initial replies no later than&nbsp;the middle&nbsp;of this lesson period; post your responses to your classmates&#8217; posts no later than the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of this lesson period, see the course schedule for specific dates.&nbsp;Please review the course expectations for&nbsp;Individual Participation. How would you evaluate George\u2019s giving feedback to Lara? 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