Encyclopedia of Leadership

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“How can a team of committed managers with individual IQs above 120 have a collective IQ of 63?”

—Peter Senge, THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE

Use this tool as a diagnostic to help a team assess its IQ and plan action. Here is a process to

do that.

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A. Have everyone in the team independently complete the Team IQ questionnaire, using the

Team IQ sources for ideas. It may help to have the questionnaires completed anonymous-

ly, for the purpose of compiling results for a collective diagnosis.

1. Signs of low Team IQ: Identify specific behaviors and actions the team has taken that
   demonstrate low Team IQ.

302 SECTION 10 TOOLS FORLEADINGTEAMS ANDGROUPS

Learn from Hard Times

➠All teams have hard times, when the error rate is high

and efficiency is low; when interpersonal stress is high,

and organizational support is low. High-IQ team mem-

bers recognize and talk about difficulties, take owner-

ship, and take action to improve their situations.

[☛8.1 Conversations]

Build Trust by Delivering

➠High-IQ teams build trust by underpromising and

overdelivering; by consistently meeting commitments,

especially when under pressure.

[☛1.7 Results-Based Leaders, 12.2 Trust]

Find the Causes of Problems

➠When things go wrong, high-IQ teams find the cause of

the problem, then fix the cause so the problem does not

recur.

[☛7.2 Problem Solving, 7.3 Finding Cause]

Engage in Conflict of Ideas

➠Team synergy and high Team IQ come from differing

ideas being discussed, challenged, combined, and trans-

formed into new and improved thinking.

[☛12.7 Dealing with Conflict]

Meet in the Meeting

➠High-IQ teams get ideas and issues on the table in the

meeting. The team is free enough that members can tell

the truth in the meeting, about what is going well,

problems, and real opinions about its work.

[☛8.5 Metacommunicating, 10.8 Ground Rules]

Focus on High Priorities

➠There are always too many things to do. High-IQ teams

focus team energy and attention on high-value issues.

They resolve these issues and move on.

[☛3.5 Strategic Resourcing, 13.5 Time Management]

Make Hard Times Worse

➠When times are tough, things get worse, decreasing

Team IQ. Inability to talk through difficulties causes

individuals to complain, blame, and attack.

Break Trust by Missing Deliveries

➠Failure to deliver reduces trust. In attempting to push

their limits, low-IQ teams and members may commit to

actions and timelines they cannot possibly deliver.

Find the Person to Blame

➠When things go wrong, low-IQ teams tend to identify a

person to whom they can attach blame.

Engage in Personal Conflict

➠Attacking team members deflects the team from its real

work, reduces listening, and produces the kind of emo-

tions that hamper thinking.

Meet after the Meeting to Discuss the Meeting

➠Subgroups, often people who did not speak up in the

meeting, congregate afterward to criticize decisions

made in the meeting.

Demonstrate Attention Deficit

➠Low-IQ teams tend to give equal weight to all issues,

without prioritizing which issues to work on first.

Sources of increased team IQ Sources of decreased team IQ