Metalanguage, the secret life of successful teams

Feeding the inner life of teams, turning it into a resource and catalyst for development and sustainable success

The secret life of teams?

Trees have an underground language. They speak and communicate through their roots. And by the roots they are fed, too. The same should be true of a team, if it is to work well. But since we are creatures of language, two levels of language exist in the team. The first is practical. Our results? Goals? How much progress have we made in the latest project?

The second level is deeper. It is where person-to-person relationships are formed, going beyond work relations. This language is the metalanguage.

What is the purpose of the metalanguage?

In an uncertain and complex environment, answers are no longer provided by a charismatic leader, who knows everything and decides for everyone, but by group intelligence. One of the conditions for developing this collective intelligence is the existence of a secret life in teams, the metalanguage.

The metalanguage feeds the secret life of teams. It nourishes the underground roots that makes it possible to tackle challenges, difficulties and frustrations together. It absorbs the shocks. It generates courage and meaning. It helps to make the team a shared resource.

During the economic production phrase or in a market economy environment, the team's metalanguage is important but not essential. Failure to develop it will not prevent the company from achieving results, even if life in the team may sometimes be uncomfortable.

But in an uncertain world, a "VUCA world", the team metalanguage is essential. In a changing and uncertain environment, it helps to make the team a source of stability and, consequently, of possible development. It brings energy and dynamism to the team. It helps to make the team a source of stability and a shared resource.

What is the risk otherwise? The risk of a team reduced to a single common denominator, running on just one engine, on its reserves. A team that speaks with a single voice but only has a single answer when faced with the varied challenges it faces from outside. Whoops. A team where the level of integration and diversity is superficial. A team that is set in its ways or working in silos, with no capacity to welcome innovation or transformation.

How can the secret life of teams and the level of metalanguage be developed?

This is a question that can seem hard to grasp – how can the theme be tackled without everyone feeling like a rabbit in the headlights? TeamIN calls for some pre-conditions and is conducted in a simple but deep process in three key stages.

First, the pre-conditions concerning the team must be fulfilled and the ground prepared. The first level of language should already be respected. The basic conditions for the success of the team should exist (clear roles and missions, explicit rules, etc.). The framework should be given.

Then a process in three steps or three stages begins: a dynamic, co-developed process helping the vital secret life of the team to emerge, with its root system.

The first step is simple, and involves highlighting what makes everyone unique, their specific added value. This is the vital basis. Group intelligence is based on assimilating differences, not on uniformity. On the basis of the science of complex systems and neuroscience, DoLquest provides unique profiles. No two DoLquest profiles are alike. This is not theory, but something concrete. The depth, the focus on individuals paves the way for developing the secret life of teams. Without lumping everyone together.

The second step is to experience otherness, alterity, in a concrete way, to be aware of it and to firmly establish this awareness. Not empty words about otherness or well-meaning words not leading to action. But experiencing practically, at a deep, interior level, what makes another person completely different from myself. And the depth of this difference is what guarantees my own uniqueness. The two go together. This is a tipping point.

The third step is to become aware of the third party represented by the team as a whole. The sudden realisation that the team is a unique being, with its own way of taking decisions, of seeing the world, its unspoken elements, its frustrations and aspirations. The same individual will relate differently to team A and its members than to team B. Why? Understanding this point opens the way to the secret life of teams.

Each step helps the individual and the team to grow. The steps resonate with each other. Experiencing them means creating a fabric of resilience and durability. DoLquest's co-developed methodologies show how to bring out the team's metalanguage, the deep language underlying collective intelligence, the language helping to turn the team into something meaningful and a haven of resources in a changing world.

Copyright 2022 Marie Elisabeth Boury for TeamIN DoLquest

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