The group of colleagues on a business trip say goodbye as they board their respective flights. The boss congratulates them on a job well done. Their smiles slip as soon as he’s out of earshot. How could he possibly think that meeting was a success? The company is just going from bad to worse.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of complaining about what the collective ‘other’ is failing to see or do.

Why can’t they see the culture is broken?
How can they be so out of touch?
Why don’t they do something to fix the problem?

The truth is in every group endeavour there is no ‘they’ and ‘them’ only ‘we’ and ‘us’. We do our best work when we take ownership of the problems and solutions in equal measure. It’s up to us to create the future we want to see.

Image by Manuel Schmalstieg