Dogs, teams and irresponsible owners.

Do you know the possibly apocryphal story about the artillery field gun?

For over 100 years, and through many technological upgrades and Army reorganisations, a crew of four gunners always served this type of gun.

Until one day when someone asked two questions. “What do these four gunners actually do? Why do we need four of them?”

Ummm, good questions. The answer is now three, operation is slicker and manpower costs are less.

As I say, possibly apocryphal. But it does highlight the issue of responsible ownership of organisational capabilities.

So, think here about teams. Who owns them? Who commissions them? How are they resourced? Who gives them their purpose? How are they developed?

When were these questions last considered? What has changed since then? What are the answers now? When is a good time to ask them again?

Sometimes teams are like dogs. Their best service is given to responsible organisational owners.

So, before you even think about individuals, relationships, processes, team building etc.. have a think about how responsible an owner you are, and how clear and relevant your commissioning has been.

Dave Stewart
The Fresh Air Learning Company