team
Discussion Question #1:
What are the five skills of disruptive innovators? How do they allow employees to develop into innovative team leaders?
Discussion Question #2:
As a team leader, how would you overcome the five traps to brainstorming?
Assignment:
Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.
5. Each essay part will require 400-500 words to address
- What are the two core categories that executives divide their core tasks into? How does this explain how they are as a team leader?
- What is “psychological safety”? Give a personal example of how this has helped you develop or you believe would have helped you had it been there for you, and why.
- What is the Balancing Act? Describe each characteristic of the “Discovery Driven” and the “Execution Driven” and how they relate to an event in your life.
- What are the five traps that diverse teams face on their way to innovation success? If you were a team leader, how would you try to avoid them, and why?
SAMPLE DISCUSSION
Discussion 1
The five skills of disruptive innovators include the following. The first skill is questioning. Disruptive innovators often develop questions about a company, industry, or problem, and then try to find a solution to the question (Atmojo et al., 2019). The second skill is observing. Disruptive innovators often go about and look at different things, and then find a way to implement what they have adapted into their business. The third skill is networking. Disruptive innovators keep in touch and find new, easier, and quicker ways to communicate with potential clients and associates. Fourth, disruptive innovators like experimenting. They deconstruct and then rebuild a product, or an idea, product, and test it in the marketplace (Atmojo et al., 2019). Most innovators who make drugs are more experimental and test their products before distributing them in the market (Widianto Atmojo & Sunarno, 2019). The last skill is associative thinking. associate thinking is about putting new products and ideas together to form one cohesive conglomerate.
These skills allow employees to develop into innovative team leaders in various ways. One of the ways is by making employees inquisitive. Being inquisitive makes employees ask questions regarding processes and work with others to solve them. As the workers improve their experience, they will become leaders who promote questions in their workplace. These skills also make employee observers, which makes them great leaders in future. A current employee with great observation skills is more likely to identify processes that can be improved and ideas that can be innovated. The skills also make them experimental and improve their urge to try new things.
References
Atmojo, I. R. W., Sajidan, S., Sunarno, W., & Ashadi, A. (2019, February). The implementation of skill of disruptive innovators to improve creativity through science learning on green biotechnology conceptions. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1157, No. 2, p. 022004). IOP Publishing.
Widianto Atmojo, I. R., & Sunarno, W. (2019). Improving the entrepreneurship competence of pre-service elementary teachers on professional education program through the skills of disruptive innovators. Ilkogretim Online, 18(3).
Discussion 2
As team leaders, we must be ready to overcome the five traps to brainstorming. One of the fewer-ideas-generated problems. This trap is where individuals in a group generate few ideas than when they are on their own (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). I can overcome this trap by asking my team members to generate and list their ideas on their own first and then share them with the group. This method will allow me to get most of the ideas from members. The second trap is the “first-idea-inline” problem. The first ideas offered sometimes get undue attention (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Teams are more likely to settle on the first idea that comes up instead of looking at all options, which is sometimes not healthy. This trap can be overcome by asking team members to list all the ideas before they start discussing the best one. Listing all the ideas first will help the group focus on all ideas on the table.
The third trap is a failure-to-listen problem. If team members are trying to remember their own ideas, they will not listen to others’ ideas very well, and thus will not build on them. The trap can be overcome by having team members brainstorm and write their ideas down before discussing them with the team (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). The fourth trap is the intimidation problem. Sometimes, team members fail to share their ideas because they feel intimidated, by other team members or the leader. This trap can be overcome by building psychological safety and trust among team members. The leader should also show that the members are valued and important. The last trap is the free-rider problem. Sometimes, team members are undervalued when the team gets larger, and thus stay quiet. This problem can be solved by meeting each team member personally, and asking them each for contributions and ideas. This approach will make each team member valued.
References
Dyer Jr, W. G., Dyer, J. H., & Dyer, W. G. (2013). Team building: Proven strategies for improving team performance. John Wiley & Sons.
SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT
Innovation in Leadership
One of the characteristics of a good team leader is to be an innovator. An innovator is someone who views processes, products, or operations as things that need to be improved or changed. An innovator should be observant and inquisitive (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Innovative team leaders should also be able to empower their employees to generate and share ideas (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). The purpose of this assignment is to discuss discovery and execution categories, psychological safety, the balancing act, and the five traps and how to avoid them.
Core Categories for Diving Core Tasks
The two core categories in that executives divide their core tasks include discovery and execution activities. According to Dyer Jr et al. (2013), the discovery category focuses on innovation which includes observing, questioning, networking, and experimenting in the process of searching for new innovative ideas to improve or change services, products, or processes. The discovery category explains how executives are team leaders by making them inquisitive. Asking questions shows that they are good listeners and leaders should listen to their team members to identify the new ideas they have on how to improve processes, products, or services. One of the qualities of an effective team leader is the ability to allow team members to share their ideas with others (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). A good leader should also be observant.
Discovery activities make leaders observant and discover areas that should be improved in service or process (O’Reilly & Binns, 2019). An observant team leader can observe a team and identify areas they are doing well and where to improve. The discovery activities also executive experimental and become great team leaders by allowing team members to experiment with most of the ideas they have developed. Experimental can also help executives grow as a leader and learn more about themselves, their teams, their product, and their processes. Experimenting also provides executives with the opportunity to see whether their assumptions are right. O’Reilly and Binns (2019) noted that good team leaders should learn to keep in touch with their team members and find new ways to associate and communicate with others. Discovery activities improve team leaders’ communication by making them better at networking.
Execution is all about delivering results, planning, analyzing, executing, and implementing strategies. Execution explains executives as team leaders through planning. A team leader should a good planner (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Team planning ensures that the objectives and goals are clearly defined to act as a guide for deciding the actions that should be implemented and the direction to follow when implementing them. The execution category also makes executives team leaders by making them executors. Team members often count on team leaders for the execution and implementation of the actions and objectives. Through execution, executives analyze various processes, products, and projects in their capacity as team leaders and determine whether the objective of the projects was met (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Execution explains how executives are team leaders by reflecting them as implementors of strategies. According to Dyer Jr et al. (2013), though team members are viral during project implementation, team leaders are required to head the project. They are required to ensure that all the needed resources are available during project implementation. The execution category also explains how executives are team leaders by reflecting them as individuals who can deliver results (Dyer Jr et al., 2013).
Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is where an employee believes or feels that they will not be humiliated or punished for speaking up about their concerns, sharing their ideas, asking questions, or pointing out mistakes in a workplace environment (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Dyer Jr et al. (2013) noted that innovative leaders possess a rare talent which is a sense of psychological safety. Psychological safety empowers and promotes workers to produce ideas and insights with impact. People who feel safe in their workplace not only generate and share new ideas with their peers and management but also translate the ideas into action (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Leaders who create a safe space for employees to generate and innovate ideas are said to have a sense of psychological safety. Such leaders are inquisitive and encourage their employees to be thinkers (Dyer Jr et al., 2013).
Psychological safety is important in a workplace environment, especially among junior workers. As an intern, I never felt psychologically safe, and thus never produced any idea that would have helped improve patient care. Our senior nurses always harassed us and were never happy when an intern comes up with new and impactful ideas. They used to bully us, and this prevented me and most of my colleagues from sharing their ideas. For instance, there was a time patient care in emergency care with a complex health problem. The senior nurses and doctors assessed the patient and failed to identify the right diagnosis for the patient. I was assigned with one of the intern doctors to look after the patient. The intern had an idea of what might be wrong with the patient. However, senior doctors shut him down because he was an intern. The incident negatively affected my psychological safety and prevented me from sharing any ideas with the group. Psychological safety would have helped my fellow interns create ideas and share them with senior nurses. Lack of psychological safety also reduced my satisfaction with the workplace I was stationed as an intern. Other interns were less motivated to work because of how the senior nurses and doctors treated them.
I also have an experience where I felt psychologically safe. After my internship, I got employed at a private hospital. The leadership there was innovative. At every nursing meeting, our nurse leader often told us that we should always share our ideas on how patient care could be improved. The leaders’ assurance helped me develop by empowering me to be more innovative and always strive to promote the nursing practice to provide quality and safe patient care. As a result, I developed the ability to think, observe, experiment, and implement ideas which aim to improve nursing practice. For instance, I remember pitching the idea of using smart beds to monitor patients in the intensive care unit as a way to address the nursing shortage in the ICU. The leadership bought the idea and included me in the team that implemented the idea. Overall, psychological safety improved my innovative skills.
The Balancing Act
The balancing act is divided into two categories including the “Discovery Driven” and the “Execution Driven” categories. The Discovery Driven category has five characteristics. The first characteristic is associating. Associating involves connecting ideas that were not connected previously to create something new or solve a problem (Kivimaa et al., 2021). Associating also involves borrowing ideas from one sector and applying them to improve products or processes in another area. I have used associating characteristics in my life before. I used my knowledge in IT to improve communication between my patients and me. The second characteristic is questioning (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). In the balancing act, a leader must be inquisitive. Innovative leaders ask a lot of questions. They treat processes or products as a question. The difference between innovative leaders and managers is that managers ask “how” questions while innovators ask “why” questions. Questioning characteristic helps leaders get rid of the status quo and empowers employees to be thinkers. Questioning relates to an event in my life about my financial situation. I asked myself why I do not have money and found that I am not saving enough.
The third characteristic is observing (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). One cannot learn without being observant. People should always observe for them to learn. I have used observing skills in my life on various occasions. For instance, I used observation to identify a community health problem to focus on in my project. I have also used observation to identify problems in my nursing unit and solve them. The fourth characteristic is idea networking. Networking involves meeting different people to get their perspectives on various concepts (Zhang & Zhu, 2021). I always interact with various people to get their ideas on improving nursing practice in my unit through networking. The last characteristic is experimenting. It involves testing new ideas before implementing them. As a nurse leader, I always test ideas through quality improvement projects before implementing them fully.
Execution Driven has four characteristics. The first characteristic is analyzing. During execution, it is important to analyze processes to ensure that they are being implemented as planned (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). As a nurse leader, I am always needed to analyze processes to ensure that achieve the organization’s objectives. I also analyze projects after the implementation of quality improvement projects in my department. The second characteristic is planning. Planning is vital for an idea to be executed. Planning relates to many aspects of my life. For instance, as a student, I had to plan myself well to attend school and at the same time go for a part-time job.
I had to plan my time well so that I can meet my work and class responsibilities. I have also used planning skills at my workplace to plan responsibilities for staff under my leadership. The third characteristic is detail-oriented implementation (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). I have been involved in the implementation of many projects in my workplace as a nurse staff and a nurse leader. For instance, I was involved in the implementation of a readmission reduction program in the geriatric department. The last characteristic is self-discipline. A leader should be self-disciplined. Self-discipline has helped me reach the milestones I have accomplished. For instance, self-disciple helped me balance work and class time.
Five Traps
The first trap is “the fewer-ideas-generated problem” (Dyer Jr et al., 2013, pg. 200). Dyer Jr et al. (2013) noted that on average, team members often generate very few ideas than people doing the same personally. In other words, people in a team have less time to share their ideas because they have to wait for other team members to give their ideas first. As a team leader, I would try to avoid this trap by asking my team members to work independently and highlight their ideas. I will then have the members pass the ideas to other team members for discussion and decision-making. I will then organize for the team members to discuss the ideas and select the most important. The second trap is the “first-idea-inline” problem. In some cases, teams often stick to the first ideas that come during team meetings. Teams often settle for the first idea without listening to other ideas. This trap prevents teams from considering ideas from multiple angles. I would avoid this trap by asking the team members to highlight all their ideas first before discussions start. Listening to all ideas is vital before deciding on which to include.
The third trap is a failure-to-listen problem. In teams, all team members may end up talking instead of listening to one another (Dyer Jr et al., 2013). Failure to listen can also occur when team members are thinking about their ideas instead of listening to their people speak. I would overcome the trap by asking my team members to speak one by one. People should not speak at once. For instance, I can give the employees three minutes each to share their ideas and other members must listen and take notes. The fourth trap is the intimidation problem. Some team members often feel humiliated and intimidated when in team meetings.
Team members might feel intimidated because they do not trust each other or the team leader, and this might prevent them from sharing their ideas with the rest of the team. I can overcome this trap by developing trust with employees and showing them that they are valued. Khan et al. (2021) noted that improving employee trust and promoting transparent communication empowers them to say their mind. The last trap is the free-rider problem. A team might receive few ideas because of free riders. Some team members might fail to participate in discussions during a large team meeting because they feel undervalued. I can avoid this trap by giving each team member time to talk to me personally about their ideas.
Conclusion
The two core categories in that executives divide their core tasks include discovery and execution activities. The Discovery category focuses on innovation which includes observing, questioning, networking, and experimenting in the process of searching for new innovative ideas to improve or change services, products, or processes. Execution is all about delivering results, planning, analyzing, executing, and implementing strategies. Psychological safety is where an employee believes or feels that they will not be humiliated or punished for speaking up about their concerns, sharing their ideas, asking questions, or pointing out mistakes in a workplace environment. The balancing act is divided into two categories including the “Discovery Driven” and the “Execution Driven” categories. The first trap is “the fewer-ideas-generated problem”, “first-idea-inline” problem, the failure-to-listen problem, the intimidation problem, and the free-rider problem.
References
Dyer Jr, W. G., Dyer, J. H., & Dyer, W. G. (2013). Team building: Proven strategies for improving team performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Khan, K., Nazir, T., & Shafi, K. (2021). Could workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion be reasons of employee silence? Journal of Workplace Behavior, 2(2), 35-51.
Kivimaa, P., Laakso, S., Lonkila, A., & Kaljonen, M. (2021). Moving beyond disruptive innovation: A review of disruption in sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 38, 110-126.
O’Reilly, C., & Binns, A. J. (2019). The three stages of disruptive innovation: Idea generation, incubation, and scaling. California Management Review, 61(3), 49-71.
Zhang, F., & Zhu, L. (2021). Social media strategic capability, organizational unlearning, and disruptive innovation of SMEs: The moderating roles of TMT heterogeneity and environmental dynamism. Journal of Business Research, 133, 183-193.
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
RATING
YEARS
