The Right-Minded Teamwork philosophy advocates leaders, teammates, and facilitators resolve the root cause of teamwork issues instead of making the mistake of addressing symptoms.
Though this view is discussed in many RMT materials, uncovering the root cause is heavily emphasized as a core concept in the book Design a Right-Minded, Team-Building Workshop: 12 Steps to Create a Team That Works as One.
Inside that book, you will find a story about a well-meaning team leader who asked me, as their team-building facilitator, if I could teach a three-day workshop in just two days. He believed a quick team event would address the problem he saw in his team.
But the problem he was seeing was only the symptom, not the root cause of the issue. Had I agreed and given him what he asked for, the team would still be struggling with the same issue. And, as a facilitator, I would have failed both the team and the leader.
Instead, by pausing to look for the root cause of the team challenge first, we ended up designing and executing a practical, Right-Minded Teamwork workshop to solve the actual underlying problem.
By seeking out the root cause first, we delivered the leader’s desired result, even though the workshop we held was not what he had initially asked for.
To improve your ability to uncover root causes and read this short story, go to your favorite book retailer or RightMindedTeamwork.com and pick up your copy of Design a Right-Minded, Team-Building Workshop: 12 Steps to Create a Team That Works as One.