Written by: Richard Fursman, Co-Founder of HueLife
“How would you disrupt a highly collaborative team?” That was a question I asked our group of 16 youth from Ukraine, ages 15-17 in August. Our HueLife team was holding a workshop with the youth to form criteria on awarding the “Best Team Member”, to be given at the end of the program. This group of strangers from all-over war-ravaged Ukraine arrived in Poland together for the first time to get ready for their journey to Minnesota. While in Poland awaiting their VISA interview at the American Consulate in Warsaw, it was stressed that we win together, lose together, and get by together. The war experience had provided a shared pain, the trip to America a common dream, and developing their leadership skills to better Ukraine, a common purpose.
During the second week in Minnesota, a consensus workshop was designed to get everyone’s input on how we should make the decision on who the best team member turned out to be. That person would be recognized at the end of the program. Often, when facilitating a consensus workshop, we look at a topic as if we were trying to do the opposite, instead of having a ‘great vacation’, ask ‘what would make it horrible?’ It is a way of creating ideas by fully imagining what failure looks and feels like. Then, the mind kicks in to dream of what the ideal would be.
So, there we were with the question, ‘What criteria should be used to determine the best team player?’ I started by asking this new team, “How would you disrupt a highly collaborative team?” Anastasiia Lavernchuk, a 16-year-old from Krukivshina, immediately spoke up. “I would disrupt a highly collaborative team by trying to determine the best team member.” Looking at all the nodding heads, I could see they were correct.
We quickly agreed that the correct question would be, “What would our High-Performing YouLead 2024 Team look like?” With that, the group of newly acquainted Ukrainians generated their own set of criteria to guide their time together to create a High-Performing team.