In my work as a consultant, I am in daily contact with leadership teams from the Dutch business community. The psychologist in me is always curious about the peculiarities of a human being, and yes; everyone has them, especially the executives! These quirks can bring people closer together, or sometimes be the cause of mutual fuss. Anyway, in a group conversation I bring up these peculiarities and in this way I make the issues that are important for the team to move forward. In the team sessions we often come to a breakthrough when we talk about vulnerability, open yourself to the other and dare to ask for help to each other. In short, more collaboration. And I also have to honestly admit that I detect a slight form of pride in myself when we get to this level of dialogue. ” We need to see each other more, stay in conversation, hold this feeling with each other " is often said to each other at the end of a successful session. "Job well done”, I say to myself and send the team back to the office with a good feeling. Not knowing that there is a great danger lurking…
Because on the shop floor of my customers there is a big hairy monster waiting. One that my colleagues are also terrified of, I have now understood. The monster who likes to swallow up the work delivered to a large extent, makes the beautiful promises to each other forget and makes the team fall back into old behavior. And he listens to the name: the delusion of the day. A highly accepted phenomenon in the workplace that is often used as an argument when it comes to non-fulfilled agreements: ‘why do I notice little of what we discussed with Niek in the session here in the office?'With the answer: ‘yes sorry, I also wanted to do everything but I was taken by the delusion of the day.’ Frightening.
Often leadership teams come back to me to resume the conversation with each other and look back on the past period. I sit in a circle with them and ask how they have fared in recent times. Good things have emerged but often they come back with the disappointing news that a large part of the agreements and promises have not been picked up or carried out by the delusion of the day. With a calm look, this is generally accepted by the group. In a flash 'he shoots through my head again:' the monster, he was there again... 'to entertain myself, this monster has in my mind a cuddly figure with big friendly eyes and soft purple hair and' he walks a little hungry along the desks of my clients in search of vulnerability, requests for help, and new behaviors. Because yes, I can't blame him for having to satisfy his hunger. I can only accept his presence on the work floor and start talking to the team again about the oddities that they suffer from or that connect them. After a session with nice words over and over again and with new appointments in their pockets, everyone goes back to the office satisfied and my work is finished again. But more and more often I am left with a secret feeling of fear of the monster that awaits them. He'd still be there tomorrow..?
I like to pose myself in a vulnerable position and with the following question of help: who is resistant to the delusions of the day and how can we drive him out of the office garden for good?
Niek van Droffelaar, The Transformation Group
