Harmony is the enemy of delivery
Many teams think that harmony is the goal of teamwork and that when achieved (i.e. when the perception is that everyone is ‘happy’), performance will follow. It rarely does.
Harmony - cordial relationships and agreements between team members - is the start, not the end of the culture building process. Harmony feels nice, safe and pleasant. We go out of our way to keep everyone informed and involved. Yet, even when we take this approach, there is always someone who will feel alienated or offended about something.
That's because harmony ignores the fact that in teams that want to deliver, it's impossible to keep everyone happy all of the time. We’ve forgotten that we’re a business team and achievement of goals requires not only respectful disagreements but also a level of discomfort so that we feel stretched in our attempts to do so.
Harmony prioritises comfort over challenge, and in doing so, guarantees mediocrity of results.
