Introduction

Every time our management team meets, I steel myself for a big battle over any important issue. Of course, we've tried to create trust and a better spirit of cooperation. I can't tell you how many retreats we've been to and how many rope courses we've taken, but nothing works. Everyone has a particular way of doing things and no one wants to change. I really enjoy my work, but the way decisions are made around here is killing me.

Sound familiar? From the boardroom to the conference room to city hall, members of teams everywhere find it difficult, if not impossible, to resolve tough issues together. Instead of cooperation and encouragement they face

• Battling egos

• Conflicting styles

• Lack of commitment and follow-through

• Office politics

• Knee-jerk actions

• Seemingly irreconcilable differences

• An atmosphere of defeatism

• A legacy of distrust

Despite the advances of technology and the desire to build business relationships, many businesses and organizations have yet to find a positive, results-oriented process for reaching agreement as a team.

Why is this the case? It's because most group members operate out of fear: fear that their team won't succeed, that other members will take all the credit for an idea, or that their contributions won't be acknowledged. Most of all, they fear that they'll get less than someone else.

That fear creates scarcity. Just think back to the gasoline shortages of the early 1970s. Long lines snaked behind gas stations all over the United States because citizens feared that the oil embargo would mean empty gas tanks. Drivers filled up their tanks more often, which drained pumps faster and created the shortages that were feared. Instead of thinking of the interests of everyone, people thought only of their own interests. They ignored the opportunity to conserve supplies and have a positive effect on the greater community.

Jockeying for influence or position in organizational teams, rather than working together, creates scarcity in the same way. When participants continually strive for personal recognition and reward at the expense of others, everyone becomes conditioned to expect less. That expectation becomes self-perpetuating.

The idea of scarcity is frightening. It represents emotional hunger, physical stress, and spiritual numbness. And, of course, it cultivates an atmosphere in which little can be done as a team because the mind-set is that there won't be enough to go around. Then struggle becomes the norm, because every person is in it for him- or herself. People jump to conclusions and don't bother to investigate other people's intentions. The situation becomes hopeless, as do all similar situations that follow.

Although this may seem like an insurmountable problem, in reality it's not. There is a way for people to work together and make effective decisions—especially in tough circumstances. The key is to work from hopes instead of fears.

Hopes Get Results

Hopes are the last thing that most groups making a decision seem to have—there are plenty of fears and frustrations, but generally no hopes. Hopes, however, are essential for productive teamwork and effective decision making and for achieving the outcomes we want. That's because hopes break through self-imposed limitations and provide the foundation for wide-ranging results. How do they do this? By overriding the primal fear of scarcity and by embracing the possibility of more abundant, more fulfilling alternatives.

Hopes also enable teams to work smart and support one another. This "intelligent teamwork" allows them to

• Embrace a worldview that encourages joining together to create better results

• Shift their attention from the stale, ineffective "What should we do?" approach to the fresh, results-producing "How can we achieve what we really want?" approach

• Tap into who they are, which gives their work added meaning and helps them define and focus on their goals

Intelligent teamwork can cement a group during decision making, rather than pull it apart. In more than ten years of experience in using the process with dozens of large companies as well as embattled communities and small businesses with big problems, I've seen it enable all kinds of groups to solve all kinds of problems together. I've also seen how it brings out the best in people—without requiring them to go through a long, drawn-out process of "personal development."

My enthusiasm for intelligent teamwork and my development of the ten-step process detailed here came about the hard way. In the early 1990s I helped found a biotech company with two partners. We wanted to work together; we had mutual respect and supported each other through the endless hours we dedicated to making a medical breakthrough.

Soon, though, the company needed a multi-million-dollar infusion of capital. Unfortunately, the timing was lousy. The biotech sector was in a severe down cycle, and the few venture investors who expressed interest wanted to control our business. What had started out as a cooperative, mutually encouraging, and productive working relationship turned into a debilitating association seething with conflict and frustration. The decision-making processes we used didn't work. All three founders—myself included—as well as the investors, fought for control. In the midst of the turmoil, I—the CEO—was squeezed out.

But that wasn't all. When my work situation splintered, my relationship with my wife suffered, too. With demanding business lives and a young child to care for and enjoy, the tension between us hit the critical mark. Everyday topics became hot-button issues. It didn't matter whether we were deciding who would pick up our daughter from preschool or how we should spend our money. Tempers flared and no solution seemed right.

Thankfully, and just in time, we discovered a new way to take action together.