Back-to-nature way to herd cats

Need a new way to get things done? Look to life and death in nature, reports VICKI JAYNE .

A good team can achieve a lot more than the efforts of its individual members.

Well ... that's how it's supposed to happen in the ideal work world.

Reality is usually messier. Finding the right sort of glue to meld a disparate bunch of egos into some kind of coordinated work force is the subject of much management theory.

One writer compared it to "herding cats".

Part of the problem is that we live in an increasingly individualistic society.

The natural tendency is not to call on collective wisdom, but to throw up project heroes - individuals who have sufficient know-how and personal clout to get and keep the wheels of an enterprise turning.

That might get things done, but it has pitfalls.

If team members feel their contributions are not being valued - or worse, that someone else is claiming credit for them - the whole enterprise loses energy or becomes prone to sabotage.

Lack of leadership depth is also an issue. If the hero goes AWOL for whatever reason, the enterprise risks losing traction or even complete derailment.

Which is why managers should be interested in the story of how a small, central North Island school transformed itself from an educational disaster zone into a learning environment that consistently nurtures student success.

Te Whaiti is a mainly Maori community bordering Whirinaki Forest.

Unemployment has been rife since native logging stopped in the 1980s, and seven years ago its school was on the brink of closure.

A damning ERO report prompted board members to take a hard look at themselves, their strengths, weaknesses, and what they wanted for their children.

That became the catalyst for a major exercise in change management.

Instead of turning to management texts, they drew inspiration from their ancestors, called on their own collective wisdom and pursued a pattern for growth that followed natural cycles.

What they achieved was a level of organisational maturity that most enterprises struggle to reach.

Running the school has become a project in which leadership can be shared because all are clear about the goal.

"They don't claim any leadership - in fact they play a game with visitors to pick who is principal," says Peter Goldsbury, project management consultant at the Auckland University of Technology.

"Staff are completely confident about taking decisions you would expect to be referred upward."

Goldsbury had a particular interest in how members of the school community were able to develop such an effective leadership framework, and not only because his own work centres on building effective teams.

He was schooled at Te Whaiti in the 1950s before going on to university, an engineering degree and a career of project management work in New Zealand and overseas.

He reconnected with his roots after taking some Indonesian visitors to Te Whaiti for a marae experience.

That led to members of the school board attending one of his courses - and his realisation that he had a lot to learn from them.

He did what he describes as "the pakeha thing" and set out to find out how Te Whaiti's community had achieved what it did and formulate the process into a model other organisations could use.

The result is the Tipu Ake Lifecycle - a management model that takes its inspiration from nature, but encompasses a bundle of modern management thinking on teamwork, innovation, leadership, flexibility and change.

Tipu (growing from within) ake (ever upward) ki te ora (toward wellbeing) is not a linear process but a cyclical one.

It begins in the chaos of natural decay, where new life begins.

Here ideas germinate, but it takes courage, leadership and vision to push them up and, by generating a sense of common commitment around them, provide the roots for further growth.

The growing trunk is the organisational processes that provide structure for the enterprise.

Every aspect above and below this level calls for leadership qualities, says Goldsbury.

Above the trunk, branches spread, sensing progress - the measurement and feedback that tests opportunities and risks while keeping the enterprise on track.

Flowering is to do with a level of collective wisdom - knowledge is shared to help pollinate new ideas.

Fruit represents the level of wellbeing that encapsulates the organisation's desired outcomes.

Recycling aspects of this structure are "pests" and "birds" representing risks (destructive actions and behaviour) and opportunities (entrepreneurs dropping seeds for new growth).



The approach is holistic, organic and reflects a Maori perspective that links future with past.

The view is one of walking backwards into the future - where you come from tells where you are headed.

"Your ability to sense what is going on around you at the time is what gives you the power to make decisions that move you forward," says Goldsbury.

Formally launched at Te Whaiti last November, the Tipu Ake model is already attracting interest.

The use of a concept such as "collective sensing" may not be standard business-speak, but it has had most impact on staff attending courses based on the Tipu Ake model, says ASB Bank learning specialist Rhonda Sullivan.

She chose the course after checking various options with a view to improving project management efficiency "by helping people better their performance as part of a team".

Brendan O'Connell, project development manager for the marine group at Navman (formerly Talon Technology), is impressed at how the lifecycle metaphor works as a focusing tool throughout the life of the project and gave Te Whaiti a common understanding of what it wanted to achieve.

Many projects fail, says Goldsbury, because while they might deliver the promised outputs, they've lost sight of the ultimate goals.

"The people of Te Whaiti have a long-term focus on the choices they want to give their kids at the end of the process.

"As their chairman put it: once you focus on the outcomes, then nothing will be a barrier."

* vjayne@iconz.co.nz