Throughout grade school I participated in a program called Future Problem Solvers (FPS). This was an extracurricular activity that was sort of similar to a scholastic bowl. Our goal was to be able to identify potential problems with some imagined scenario and then find solutions to the problems we found. We would hold practice once a week to prepare for a regional competition against other schools with the hopes of making it to the state competition. My teams would usually preform pretty well but I had never made it to the state competition. This changed when I entered 7th grade and found myself on a new team.
FPS teams consist of 4 people and a coach. The coach was able to provide us with practice scenarios and advice, but, similar to any sport, couldn't actively participate in the competition. Once we entered the classroom with the future scenario, we had only our team members to rely on. The competition consisted of two different parts: a written portion and then a skit. For the written part of the competition, there were a number of different tasks to complete.
Communication is extremely important in FPS, as well as time management. Our team was structured as an All-Channel Network. In such a structure, all members of the team can talk to one another. This was extremely important to us because all of the tasks we had to complete were interrelated. My main task was to identify problems with the scenario we are given. I have to be in communication with the person who was in charge of creating solutions for the problems. Since we are all communicating with each other, more often than not, something that one person said would spark an idea for someone else to contribute. Even though I was put in charge of identifying problems, anyone could contribute problems that they thought of and some of our best thoughts came in this way. If we had used a different team structure, for instance the Circle Network, we would lose our open discussion of the scenario and miss out on all the ideas that come from collaboration between everyone. I was very good friends with everyone on my team, this definitely was an advantage for communication because there was no hesitation in our communication. If our team wasn't friendly, I believe communication would have been more difficult and that would severely impact our performance. The need for constant communication in competition made our All-Channel Network team structure the logical choice.
Katzenbach and Smith are the authors of The Wisdom of Teams. This book tried to find common characteristics between successful teams. Katzenback and Smith interviewed many members of numerous teams and identified six characteristics of high-functioning teams.
"High-performing teams shape purpose in response to a demand or an opportunity placed in their path, usually by higher management." In my case, the opportunity was making it to the state competition, which involved missing a day of school and getting to stay overnight at Illinois State University with no parents (this all sounded very appealing to my younger self). Our coach acted like the upper management of successful business by providing us with the opportunity to get to the state competition by registering us for the competitions and giving us practice materials. The coach gave us lots of leeway in creating our plan of attack for the scenario, which made us very enthusiastic and determined because success or failure was completely up to us.
"High-performing teams translate common purpose into specific, measurable performance goals." My team's purpose was to preform well at the competitions to make it to state. We practiced at least once a week. Each time we met we would have a new goal; whether that was to finish a few minutes quicker or come up with a couple additional problems compared to the last scenario we looked at, each week we would attempt to improve. Setting these small weekly goals gave us some reassurance that we were moving in the right direction and putting ourselves in a position to succeed.
"High-performing teams are of manageable size." An exceptionally large team allows individuals to blend into the background and not be held accountable to meet their individual responsibilities. My team only had 4 people, including myself. This small size kept us all very accountable. It would be very easy to tell if someone wasn't contributing to the team. Our constant communication and close ties made sure this was never the case.
"High-performing teams develop the right mix of expertise." Teams that achieve success have members that have complimentary skills and enough diversity so someone on the team is able to tackle any potential issue that the team could face. Each of my teammates had a task that they could complete at a high-level of quality. For instance, one of my teammates was unbelievably comfortable with performing onstage and had the ability to keep a crowd engaged. He was a huge asset to the team because the competitions included a portion where you chose one of your solutions and had to demonstrate it through a short skit. His aptitude for stage performance would make up for the rest of the team's struggles with public performance (mine included).
"High-performing teams develop a common commitment to working relationships." There has to be agreement in a team on each persons responsibilities and how decisions are made. The good communication we had between teammates made dividing up tasks a very easy proposition. Our practice sessions helped us figure out who was exceptionally good at each of the different portions of the written report for the given scenario. Each teammate was tasked with what they were best at, but also had the help and support of everyone on the team if it was needed.
"Members of high-performing teams hold themselves collectively accountable." Successful teams consist of members that will take responsibility for not only their own actions but also the teams actions. My teammates and myself were very dedicated to the team. We had the goal of the state competition in our minds and nothing would stop us. We took extreme pride in our work. If our team did poorly, we all shared the blame and worked together to solve the issue.
My team went to the state competition when I was in 7th grade and then we made it again the next year. My FPS team was a successful team.
First, writing as a parent, I'm surprised that I never heard of FPS. My kids did do Scholastic Bowl and in High School one of them was on the Speech Team. But I wasn't aware of FPS as an alternative.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have from what you wrote is how the team was formed. Did the four of you just decide to be a team, and then found some teacher as coach? Or did it work somewhat the other way around where a teacher asked you to be on the team?
Another question for you is how you practiced for events. Did you do that after school or during?
Finally, I'd be curious whether your middle school had prior or subsequent success in FPS. If so, that would be evidence of something in the environment that encouraged the success, perhaps a teacher, perhaps a curriculum that helped. If not, you may have been part of an unusual cohort. Trying to understand these factors helps in thinking through the points Katzenbach and Smith emphasize.
There were three teams at my school that competed in the competition. The way teams were formed was sort of a combination between getting to choose your teammates and being assigned a team. I knew I wanted to be on a team with one of my close friends from grade school, but I didn't care as much about the other two people who were on the team. The coach basically paired my friend and I up with another group of two and we began practicing together. The teams were not always set in stone. If I can remember correctly, we practiced with combinations of all the different people involved in FPS in order to find the teammates we worked best with. I think this was a great idea by our coach, we knew that our team was the best possible fit. It turned out though that the people I considered my better friends in FPS were the people who ended up being on my team.
ReplyDeleteThe coach hadn't done FPS before, but I had known him from taking a honors math course at the middle school, while I was in my last year at my grade school. My friend and I talked him into being a coach for FPS. There was already a coach for FPS at the middle school, but I do not think they cared too much about that task because they were more than pleased when my coach offered to take over.
As to when we practiced, we had sessions both during school and after school. We practiced mostly after school, because my teammates and myself had our study periods at different times during the day. After school was the easiest way to ensure everyone could attend practice. As we got closer to the regional competition and after we qualified for state, we would meet up during lunch with our coach. These lunch meetings were more social than work, but I believe it helped us feel more comfortable with the coach and the team as a whole.
During the two years I participated in FPS at my middle school, my team reached state each year. In addition to my team succeeding, one of the other two teams made it the last year I participated in FPS. I haven't kept up with my coach/teacher since graduating middle school, but I know that the year after I left, they had another team make it to state. I'm not sure if 7 or 8 years later my middle school is still seeing success with FPS, but they at least saw some success in the year that followed my last.