key to combine independence and collaboration

Even in time of video and brief message, writing gains in relevance because it forces us to think with clarity and clear structure.

“The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen,” reckoned Lee Iacocca.

Writing also preserve the history of projects and activities.

Centrality of writing for our management (long documents), research and courses (Textus) seems to be the right choice (although at some points counter-intuitive).

||Jovan||

Contrarian approach

Summaries: Team works matter as we spend 50% of our time working together. But we know a very little about group dynamics. Google Aristotel project tried to analyse the reason for success of teams. They started with data, but it did not help them a lot since data was not revealing patterns for successful team work.

They came to the importance of 'group norms' as tacit rules that people of group follow. Interestingly enough, they consulted business literature, but they did not study a very reach research on 'transactional philosophy' with well-know book 'Games People Play' by Eric Bern, where he identifies patterns of 'games' we play in family and professional life.

By doing intensive research, Google researchers came to a few ingredients which make successful teams more successful:

• equality in conversational turn-taking (everyone gets chance to talk)
• average social sensitivity (empathy and understanding of others feelings)
• personal safety to say something without being judged or even punished.
• clarity of goals
• be ready to accept mistakes and failures - they are human.

I watch movie 'Get Back'. This text summarises well the movie except a few points of the Google Aristotle project (importance of personal safety), which I tackle separately.

What can we learn from Beatles in making our team effective?

• every member of the team can contribute something
• give everyone time to speak
• the importance of 'renewal' of ideas and group dynamics.
• when you should 'let it be'
• enjoy in what you are doing.

NASA is preparing for long - 18 months - trip to Mars. The main challenge is to keep crew for such a long time in the small space of spacecraft.

Thus, NASA started experimenting with social dynamics in the lab called the Human Exploration Research Analogue (HERA). HERA is the 'ultimate human Petri dish'. In this in-vivo experiment they observe humans who are put into exact the same environment they will experience on the long journey to Mars.

Here are a few preliminary findings from HERA experiment:

• Conflicts can be useful for generating new ideas and insights. Focus on conflict over ideas not people. Play 'ball' not 'person'.

• Routines matter even in 'creative work'

• Good communication

• Ability to adjust

• Good sense of humor

• Nice combination of talents and skills: leader, storyteller, clown, etc.

There are a few finding||Jovan||

Why conflicts can be useful if they are not personal. Creative frictions and conflicts around ideas are very useful.

||Jovan||