The Canaries
Time is an interesting thing. I would panic if you told me I had to get my blood drawn for 10 minutes. However, if you told me I would get a massage for 10 minutes, I would be disappointed.
If I had an upcoming flight and my ticket said it would take 31 hours to travel from St. Louis to South Florida, I would look for a new travel agent, but a 31-hour trip from St. Louis to South Africa sounds exciting.
So, was the year 1633 a long time ago? Compared to my time on Earth, yes. Compared to the dinosaur footprints I once visited in Bolivia, 1633 does not seem so long ago.
In February of 1633, Italian astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician Galileo Galilei was charged with heresy for suggesting – and believing – that the Sun stood motionless while the Earth revolved around it. As a result of this crime, Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
You read that correctly; just 400 years ago, a man was criminally charged for trying to help us see something differently.
The truth is, we have not evolved very much. As I work with teams in all industries, it is rare to find groups that allow individuals to share their perspectives openly. It is especially rare to find teams that welcome the voices of their newest team members.
I can confidently say that average teams don’t value the experiences of their new members. Instead, they want individuals to acclimate to their culture before speaking up. In other words, they want you to become one of them before they value what you have to say.
Unfortunately, this ideology means losing the opportunity to learn from a fresh perspective. After a while, most of us find ourselves numb to the way things are done. Over time, we discover the window of opportunity to see and point out blind spots for others has closed, and this is precisely what average teams want. They have no desire to rethink their culture.
New team members have a unique perspective, and high-performing teams – unlike average teams – embrace and encourage that perspective.
I recently worked with a team whose head coach has won at every level. She is the best of the best. At the end of my visit, we sat in her office, and she said, “tell me everything I need to hear.” She craved a fresh perspective. I will admit, in moments like this, I work to suppress the voice within me that says, “But I just got here two days ago! What do I know?”
High-performing leaders and high-performing teams value different perspectives. Average teams require people to earn the opportunity to speak, and this is an element that keeps them average.
The clear eyes – those who have not yet given in to the “this is the way we do things here” mindset – function like canaries in a coal mine. For 75 years, canaries were taken into coal mines to help workers detect deadly invisible gases like carbon monoxide. The birds would show signs of distress and die long before humans could sense any danger. The behavior of a canary provided a clear signal of danger. They noticed what was toxic long before humans could.
Canaries were able to sound the alarm on what others did not notice. They literally saved lives. New team members can do the same. Unfortunately, average teams either silence the would-be canaries or allow them to depart to save themselves. In both cases, the opportunity for growth is missed.
Just 400 years ago, we were wrong. Collectively we believed the Sun revolved around the Earth, and sadly, we had no desire to consider other options.
What is happening within your team – committee, department, or organization – that in 400 years would seem ridiculous to an outsider? High-performing leaders will ask for the opinions of new team members early often. When we pay attention to new team members' behavior – including their distress – we can learn a lot.
Don’t miss the unique opportunity to learn from someone your culture has not yet tainted.
Their perspective may be the very thing that saves you.
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