Some teams...

Some teams are diamonds, some teams are stone.

Teams behave differently and we have to remember that everyone is on a different part of the journey. Some teams are cut out to become high performing, and others are not. Your goal as a product owner and leader is to create an environment for them to grow and 'own their stuff'. So the thing that comes to mind is intrinsic motivation. There are three parts to that:

1. Purpose. If a team (and people) have a purpose, then they can get behind something other than just 'do these stories and tasks'. So connect some vision or better outcome/impact for them to seek. Set that for their benefit.

2. Mastery. When a team gets the basics and they are taught HOW to develop it, not to develop it for them, they become masters of their domain. This is where working "on" your work becomes as important as working "in" your work.

3. Autonomy. When a team has the space to create, collaborate and decide on their own, they are by default gaining ownership.

I'm reminded of a high-performing team I had years ago. I spent 3 years with them. I told them during a tournament that the next match we played would put us 5th in the Region with a win and 6th with a loss. I asked them what they wanted to do about it. They already had the space to 'master' the mindset and the actions in the game. I then walked away from them and let them discuss what they wanted to do about it.

I gave them purpose, allowed for their mastery and gave them autonomy.

Sure, they owned some losses from which they learned.

But owning the wins were so much more important to them.

Next thread a little later!

Would love to get your thoughts and your challenges!

Scott