When the Problem is Problem Solving!

I was sitting on my porch today watching three squirrels get the better of a bird feeder.

The feeder, of course made for birds, is big enough to support one squirrel if he perches on the edge of the feeder while clinging to the porch screen. It is a difficult angle, but one could make it work. When a second and third squirrels figured out what this other squirrel was doing, they wanted to join the party.

The problem was – all three could not fit on the feeder, no matter how hard they tried. After all three fell to the ground, two immediately went back to trying. The third stayed on the ground when he realized he could still get a belly-full of the seeds falling from the agitated bird feeder.

While the squirrel on the ground ate, the other two continued to struggle to stay on the very thin ledge of the feeder. As they rocked the feeder back and forth, the squirrel on the ground continued to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Very quickly, one of the other two figured out that the ground position was worthwhile as well and decided on that option. By then the first squirrel had walked away – full.

The two remaining squirrels figured out they could take turns agitating the feeder to push more seeds to the ground where they could eat in relative comfort. While one agitated, the other stayed below to guard the spoils from the birds and other squirrels.

I smiled at their team work and collaboration as they enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

It was not the first time I had seen squirrels or other animals come together to solve a problem. What fascinated me was not that they did it, but the speed with which they realized –alternative solutions were necessary and available. I think the squirrels, in my yard, at least seem to have mastered problem solving.

I started to wonder why more of us in the workplace don’t solve problems like squirrels do?

How many teams have you worked on where learning to problem-solve should have been the first assignment? I have been on a few teams where individuals, completely competent on their own, failed to achieve outstanding outcomes together with team members.

Put the HR concepts of storming, norming and performing aside. Lets face it, most people aren’t familiar with that process and don’t want to hear about a workable process for problem solving.

Many want to act and act now. Many people, I find, are well meaning and want to just “jump in”. They confuse action with progress. Many think that any result is a good result if we all just "pitch in". This seems to be even more prevalent in today’s workplace where everyone wants to show their value by appearing to be busy and active. In instances where employees view projects as high value or high visibility there is a rush to add input, regardless of the ad hoc nature of the process.

We all know the mantra –“there is no “I” in team”.

Well sometimes there has to be. If you find yourself on one of these flailing teams where fuzzy input is guaranteed to bring fuzzier outputs, YOU have to put the “I’ in Team.

To keep your own workplace stress under control, you may have to be the “I” that says, “We are all trying to fit on this bird feeder when we know it can only hold one of us at a time. I’ll be happy to jump off. What can I do on the ground to keep the seeds safe?”