You have 5 minutes to decide who gets into the bomb shelter, I told the team of 19 yesterday as we began our 14th practice together. I set the iPad in stopwatch mode and began the countdown. The team was broken into 2 teams and given a list of people that wanted in. They were allowed to only let in 2.
My role was assessor. I simply assessed who grabbed the lead, who went turtle, who freaked, who tried to power over and who didn’t give a rip.
Tons of learning for me and the Team of 19. The melody line for me though was striking. This team has been developing the discipline of speaking and listening BTL style. They have come a long way. Trust has gone up and “justice thread” violations have gone down. However, when simply simulating pressure, they reverted back to their old habits. Their new disciplines are NOT durable. Pressure broke them.
This is why so many teams get frustrated with BTL and quit before they “get it.” It takes a ton of practice to build new disciplines that are durable. A ton more than most humans have time for. New disciplines aren’t disciplines if they only work in the classroom. Whatever disciplines you want to build, put them under pressure early and often.
And, this bomb shelter simulation is one of the real hiring exercises used by Southwest Airlines for deciding who they want working their 737’s. Funny, huh…
BUILT TO LEAD 