Physics * The Law of Momentum * Team Performance

12 Jul 2012    7 comments
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DominosAs we close in on the two-week countdown to the London Olympic Games, it is almost impossible to watch a news bulletin or read a sports report without hearing of athletes who are “really happy with my momentum heading into the Olympics.”

Momentum is a common term in the world of sport, and is bandied about regularly. Today however, we ignore the mutterings from mundane sports interviews, and turn our interest to the pure definition of the word ‘momentum’ – from a physics point of view.

In today’s blog post, we combine the scientific world of physics with the Team Alchemy Life Cycle – a fusion of science and teamwork that is designed to produce clarity and commitment to action!

Momentum can be defined as “mass in motion.” How much momentum an object has, (if I remember high school correctly) depends equally on how much stuff it contains, as well as how fast that stuff is moving. An object with lots of either variable (or, ideally both) will have a lot of momentum.

Teams, it could be said, are made up of stuff; individual members, goals, milestones, feedback loops, dialogue, achievements, external stakeholders, vision, targets, dashboards and disciplines. Getting this stuff to move in the right direction, quickly and efficiently (ie. with positive momentum) is the science of good team work.

To hear more about the key traits of teams within the Momentum phase, click the video below.

 

Momentum Video

If you have thoughts relating to the video, I am as eager as always to hear them in the comments section, and to get some dialogue going there…

Regards,

Trevor.

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© 2013 Team Alchemy. Click here to read about the Team Alchemy writers.

Jul 12 2012
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7 Comments · Make a comment

  • Richard Whitney
    Physics and Teams

    Interesting 'stuff' Trevor. We will need to work out where the Higgs Boson Particle fits into this. What you are saying reminds us that we can have a sense that we are tracking well if we are only watching/tracking one dimension of performance - or only watching one 'dial' on the dashboard.

    - Richard

  • trevor laurence - ETC
    @physics and teams

    Hi Richard. Tell me more about Higgs Particle and momentum please! I think you are saying simplicity of measurement helps track team performance, and if so I totally agree. The idea is to get down to a few (say 5) key measures that all other KPIs roll up into, and to visualise this in a simple way, such as red, amber, green colour coding. This keeps the major KPI's of performance 'front & centre', helps us know when to collectively recognise and celebrate team achievements, and where to focus improvement / remedial efforts.

    - Trevor

  • Liz Jones - thetrainingstudio
    Can we keep up?

    Interesting post Trevor. I'm doing a lot of work at the moment around the changing world of work, and how different generations have a different relationship with work. Certainly, the 'momentum' of work has sped up (thanks in no small part to the growth in digital/technology). Interesting to think about team momentum and project momentum ensuring that both are kept on the same trajectory and focused on the end goal.

    - Liz Jones

  • Richard Whitney
    Physics and Teams

    The Higgs particle - it was just a reference to the latest physics. The key measure part - mass and motion are two dimensions that link to momentum. What I was trying to say is that if you only pay attention to one dimension it can look like you are doing well - but you miss some other key element that added to what you are doing makes all the difference e.g. if you only look at customer satisfaction and make your focus only around things that drive it up - but ignore revenue/profit you will miss the boat. I like your idea about '5 key measures' and a clear way of tracking those. - Richard 

  • Nic Thielsen - ARAVIS Academy
    Identifying momentum

    Momentum has to be identifyable - via measures - in order to generate exitement and engagement. Part of this identification should also include direction i think.

    - Nic Thielsen

  • trevor laurence - ETC
    @can we keep up?

    Liz my view is that big part of successfully creating and maintaining momentum is how the team manages the dimension of time. Time is one of the biggest trade-offs required for effective team performance. As you have indicated, the pressure is increasing on us all to produce more with less in a face paced, interconnected, 'always on' world. At the same time, to capitalise on the value of the diversity of a well composed team requires time for quality dialogue or "sustained collective enquiry into everyday experience" (Senge). Teams that learn to balance these paradoxical challenges are well on the road to creating sustainable momentum that produces create team outcomes.

    - Trevor

  • trevor laurence - ETC
    @ physics and teams 2

    Richard.... so, I think we are on the same page here as I have used velocity in my blog commentary in a similar context to motion. In teams a key way of generating mass is consistently applying our core processes and behavioural disciplines in meetings, communication etc; velocity or motion comes from achieving success - hitting milestones, delivering on commitments, rsponding to challenges and opportunities. All of these require a dashboard to see they fit together in a holistic way to achieve our overall team vision and purpose.

    - Trevor

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