Creating the Organization 347subgoals are essential if the team is to create its own identity and sense of mission. The
accomplishment of these subgoals will be the joint work product of the team. Some-
times these goals are quite distinct, such as the development and implementation of a
management accounting system. Other goals might be fuzzy, such as becoming a leader
in innovation. Fuzzy goals are acceptable because they provide increased discretion and
flexibility for the team.^27
Norms and Values. Norms are the team’s shared standards for behavior, and values are
its desired outcomes. The most important of these norms and values are:
- Cohesion: the understanding that when the team gains, each individual member
gains - Teamwork: the acknowledgment that collective activities and accomplishments can
surpass what any individual can achieve on his or her own - Fairness: the realization that rewards and recognition are based on the contributions
of individuals to the team’s efforts and its success. This implies an “equal inequali-
ty” because the rule is applied equally but the outcomes may be unequal. For exam-
ple, members of the founding team might have stock options while later employees
do not. All benefit when the company does well, but not equally. - Integrity: the adherence to honesty and the highest standards of ethical behavior
within the framework of the top manager’s fiduciary relationship with the enter-
prise’s owners and investors - Tolerance for risk: the willingness to be innovative and to accept ambiguous situa-
tions - Tolerance for failure: the willingness to accept that innovation and ambiguity some-
times end in failure - Long-term commitment: the obligation to promote the interests of the organization,
its customers, employees, investors, and other stakeholders - Commitment to value creation: the recognition that personal wealth will arise from
the value of the new venture as an ongoing, growing, and profitable entity
Roles. In every group, certain people play certain roles. Sometimes people play multi-
ple roles, changing as the situation warrants. Contributors are task-oriented initiators,
usually individuals with special knowledge or expertise in the area to which they
are contributing. Collaborators are joiners who align themselves with those making
the contribution of the moment. The presence of these allies increases the likelihood
that the contributor’s initiative will be accepted. Communicators define the particular
task, pass information from contributors to other members of the group, and restate
positions held by potentially conflicting members. Challengers play the devil’s advo-
cate. They offer constructive criticism and attempt to portray the downside of the con-
tributor’s recommendations. Their role is to ensure that no course of action is taken,
no decision made, without considering what can go wrong or whether alternative
courses might be more effective.^28 Over the course of a single meeting or day and cer-
tainly over the life of the group, any TMT member can successfully play all of these
roles.