Today's complex work demands the integration of expertise from individuals who do not innately understand one another. In addition, what is taken for granted in one work culture may be totally at odds with another.

Gathering a wide range of differences in experience, values, philosophy and competence is not nearly as challenging as is helping people appreciate these differences. People receive different messages from the same words and make different observations about the same incidents. As we get beyond arguing about who is right, new team opportunities emerge. It is essential, too, for teams to learn how to "depersonalize" conflict and encourage people to get tough issues on the table. We want to be mentally tough on issues yet gentle with people. Learning to separate these is a matter of language and style.

A strong, INTERdependent team must be able to get to the point where all are comfortable with exposing weaknesses and buoying each other up--counter balancing a weakness with a strength from a partner. As this is internalized, the productivity increases by two to four times as does quality, both in process and product.

1. Strength/Weakness Process - surfacing each person's profile of strengths and blindspots, recruiting coaches from within this group (matching weaknesses with other's strengths) and building a process to assign specific business challenges to the right team leaders and balance decision making.
2. HBDI (Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument). This process reveals the balance or lack within the team and their teams. It also expands understanding of brain dominance from right/left hemisphere to include the limbic system. The four-quadrant approach is very powerful in decision-making reviews.
3. Building Strength through Difference. Learning to make diversity an asset and creating balance when wide ranges of perspectives are not represented in decisions or planning.

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