Not within teams but between teams.
Not within departments but between departments.
And not within organizations but between organizations.
Such “between problems” are not assigned to anyone. Why? Because they are between.
And these “between problems” will remain unresolved until someone chooses to own the problem.
The biggest problems – and thus the greatest opportunities to add value – are not in your job role, your department, your function, or your organization.
The opportunities are in the gaps between your role, function, or organization.
No matter how much effort we put into trying to define roles and structures, there still will be gaps.
And it turns out that the highest value of work is done in working out those gaps.
So to start working on such gaps think about which team or collaboration or partnership you are a part of that could benefit from asking the following question:
“What is our task that’s bigger than you, bigger than me, requires both of us, yet neither of us can claim success until we get that done?”Figure that out together and start working on that task, that gap.
That is how you add value.
In a nutshell: The biggest problems are not within roles but between roles. Solve these and you will add value fast.
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2020 by Henrico Dolfing