Over the last 20 years, I have had the opportunity to directly hire and/or follow the performance of several hundred key employees working on strategic initiatives. I have observed that when things go wrong, in most cases it is related to one or several of the following dimensions, which I refer to as the PIKES model.
PIKES stands for Purpose, Integration, Knowledge, Ecosystem, and Self. Although we look at each dimension separately below, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Purpose: The first dimension relates to an individual’s sense of purpose. It refers to the genuine and profound personal motivation of each team member to make the project a success. Motivation is different for each individual, but it has to be there, otherwise the risk of people dropping out when the team faces its first serious crisis is very high.
Integration: The second dimension addresses the degree of integration between team members, which is really about team maturity. In other words, the team should have a deep understanding of which tangible and intangible elements contribute to its cohesion – values, behaviors, and written and unwritten rules, such as reliability for example. The concept of integration is central when hiring new team members. If the leader and the people interviewing don’t understand it fully, they will not be able to put together a high-performing team.
Knowledge: This covers the mastery of key technical competencies required for the job or the specific initiative. It also includes soft skills. In addition, knowledge is about each person’s ability to bring novelty to the table. Beyond the obvious need for innovation, a team that does not have the potential for creativity runs the risk of lacking imagination when it comes to resolving complex problems.
Ecosystem: The fourth dimension relates to each individual’s capacity to understand the dynamics of the broader environment (e.g. the company and, more generally, the area of business) in such a way that the team can navigate and interact efficiently even during stormy weather. From an outcome perspective, we are looking, for example, for the ability to mobilize resources across the organization and beyond, and to obtain support from key stakeholders.
Self: The fifth and final dimension is vital especially during critical moments. It addresses each team member’s ability to be in control of his or her own emotions. Uncontained stress has the potential to derail all the other dimensions. It is therefore crucial that strategic teams have stress management as a core competency and are fully aware of where weaknesses lie in order to be able to anticipate stress-related challenges.
From a management standpoint, having the right team means first selecting it and then, importantly, nurturing it. In the full article here, you will find some risk factors as well as recommendations on how to pick the right people and nurture existing team members.
French version here