How Doers Derail Teams and Halt Progress
Whatever you do, don’t add a doer to a project that’s 25% done.* You might think they’d get the ball rolling. Instead they send teams into tailspins.
Doers drain energy and derail progress, when they join work that’s already in progress.
Doer-dreamer-feeler:
Most people know if they’re a doer, dreamer, or feeler, even if they haven’t clearly defined the terms. Everyone has all three. Everyone has a dominant orientation.
I’m focusing on doers today. If you are a doer there are only two options.
- Doer-dreamer-feeler
- Doer-feeler-dreamer
Doer:
Great doers:
- Decide quickly.
- Start few things – finish many.
- Prefer caution to spontaneity.
- Don’t enjoy brainstorming. (It’s a waste of time.)
- Protect gains.
- Focus on one thing at a time.
- Choose practicality over creativity.
Doer as derailer:
A frustrated doer is a derailer.
Doers care about how work is done. You do things the ‘right’ way when working with doers.
Doers love explicit direction and clear plans. When they join work in progress they ask about S.O.W’s (Statements of Work), plans, timelines, and assignments. They want to know who’s doing what, when.
A late coming doer drags teams back to the beginning.
Recovery is slow when an aggressive doer drags teams back to the start of a project.
Preventing derailment:
- Don’t spring new projects on doers. They’re planners.
- Get their buy-in before they join the team.
- Explain the project in private. Answer all their questions thoroughly.
When a doer has clarity, you can’t stop them.
Tip: Doer-feelers are less destructive than doer-dreamers. Emotional intelligence comes into play.
How might leaders address the tendency of doers to derail work that’s already in progress?
*I’m thankful to a coaching client who made the observation that doers stall teams when they join work that’s already in progress.
Dan,
We work with doers everyday in our company, these individuals are task oriented to do the job. They all have levels of expertise which make them capable of dreamer/thinker to vision the task, they become the doer to perform the tasks. Late coming doers are delegated when they arrive, that is the dreamer/ thinkers tasks to bring the new doer on board. Granted we are performing projects for clients with engineered drawings by the dreamer/thinker that we all become doers. To become the doer we need the vision to complete the Tasks by the doers in a methodical array to finish the dreamers/thinkers project. Everything needs a foundation to build on either physical or mental.
Thanks Tim. My understand is that bringing any new person to an already existing team is disruptive. I wonder if how well people know each other impacts this? When people who know each other it seems less disruptive when they join or leave a team or project.
Anytime a new person is added, the team is disrupted. I do not believe a “doer” creates anymore disruption than the other types. I think EQ as you mentioned is a huge factor, along with other work style factors at play.
I suggest by nature doers and dreamers are more disruptive for very different reasons. Feelers less disruptive because of EQ. thanks again.
Dan,
We take new hires and put them with experienced workers to bring them on board, they may never have met, yet they have a common bond perhaps as doers. The team concept becomes difficult if the doers are disruptive, that’s were we need to mentor them into team doers. There are times when conflicts evolve which need addressed or the whole project can take a bad turn, we depend on our senior Leaders to bring everyone working together. Failure is not an option.
Tim, I think it’s interesting that you changed feeler to thinker in your response. What was behind that for you?
Dawn,
Our business is with clients, so we must think together, work together and find solutions as a team to create a satisfied client, without clients we have no job. We are constantly challenged to do a good job at a fair price and still make clients completely satisfied.
I am new to being a formal leader in the world of independent school education, but have been a teacher leader for years prior to this year. Teachers are dreamers, and feelers, and doers interchangeably all of the time. As educators, if you’re worth your salt, you are able to change from dreamer to feeler to doer, or doer to feeler and back to dreamer again all of the time. So, I am stuck in that I can’t label myself in general as any one of these things. I am happy being all three depending on what the situation requires. I hope that this trait of interchangeability is a good leadership trait that I can continue to use to help serve others in the future.
Thanks Heidi. Yes, we all shift between doer-dreamer-feeler. I serious doubt if anyone is equally good at all three. Most people have one outstanding talent/strength/orientation.
The more outstanding we are in one area the greater our weakness in others. Frankly, I prefer working with people who have great strengths and obvious weaknesses.
I find your comment very helpful. Thank you for adding your insights. Much appreciated.
Heidi — you may be describing a type of “situational” leadership or accommodating, which you are correct in this is a great ability for a leader to have. This being said, we all have a comfort zone that we prefer if given the option. A good way to find this zone is looking at your personal life or how you approach things when you are with your friends or a group. So, while you are flexing at work as a necessity, it is good to know where you are most and least comfortable. I suppose it is possible if you’ve always been a teacher, you’ve always flexed between the 3 and you’ve never considered any other way of being…then I can see where being all 3 is possible.
I’m a doer and I would never want to derail a project. Any advice for helping me recognize when I might be unintentionally derailing and how to remedy the problem?
Thanks Michelle. Your comment is fantastic. I think it’s surprising to think that a doer could actually get in the way of doing things.
Perhaps bringing your questions/concerns to the team leader in private is one way to mitigate the energy drain that might happen on the team. However, the team leader needs to understand that your questions and concerns don’t mean you are a foot dragger. I suspect that once you get clarity, you’re a dynamo!
The “doers” main goal is to complete the task and understanding the parameters of what needs to be accomplished is vital for doers not jut for completion but efficiently, as well. If the team / lead can provide the information, I strongly believe that the doers can and will make it happen. I find it good to ask somebody to flag him/her if he/she is causing some delay.
So…at the risk of over simplification, how ’bout in that private conversation with the ‘doer’ we broaden the task to include how the goal is accomplished, i.e. via the team, what that looks like and more importantly how the doer fits into that process.
Typically the doer does not care about any team process, just the end result…and why should they? Every doer knows full well that nobody else does it right or like they can. LOL…
I remember blowing out a team way back when because I was completely focused on the what outcome and not the how outcome.
The purest doer needs to be coached to the value of the process with the team not just the what outcome.
If you find the doer won’t be coached, which is not unusual if they’ve been allowed to season, well then, as a manager, you have some pre-tasks as a doer before deploying that asset to any team.
If you as a manager haven’t yet secured the doers respect…well then you have a real project on your hands. What often happens in cases like this is management finds a way to isolate or marginalize the doer instead of managing and finding a way to develop that doer.
Brilliant!
I laughed at, “Every doer knows full well that nobody else does it right or like they can.” It’s so true!
I’ll be coming back to your comment to reflect on this topic. Very helpful.
I’m definitely a doer and sometimes I think brainstorming may be a good thing. Sometimes I just go ahead and start doing because I want to start and not plan but planning would be efficient to get my job done quicker and more efficiently.
Thanks Mitra. What makes you say that you’re a doer? Just curious.
At first I was wondering how a doer might be a detriment because of their diligence to complete a task but the aha moment came when IF they had not been briefed or gotten up to speed on the why’s and other details of the project, they would have a “need to know” that would indeed stall the progress already made if the team had to take the time to go back and catch them up. This also reminds me of school where students are absent, or when new faculty join the staff. Instead of getting them up to speed separately, we hold the whole group back by “reviewing” what most already know before we can resume play so to speak. I’m a doer too… but also a thinker… and I’ve learned to feel! 🙂
Thanks Vicki. We should appreciate the doers desire to do things the right way, but also realize that it can slow teams to a stall. This is especially true if a team is already making progress and the doer joins late.
thanks for sharing your inisights. I think dreamers and feelers can jump in and just get busy. The doer needs a little more context. They don’t like doing if they aren’t clear on how they will win…(finish things.)
If doers are great at finishing things it seems like they would be a great asset to a team that is spinning its wheels and not progressing but needs to. However the key is to be thoughtful about how to bring them up to speed and tap into their strengths if the project is already underway. If it’s better to have them onboard from the beginning what’s the best way to keep them from getting frustrated during the visioning and brainstorming stage of the project?
I’m a doer and am at risk for derailing this conversation! I love being part of vision and brainstorming sessions because they allow for the team to define and shape “the win.” It takes a diverse team to build a realistic spec for the dreamer’s dream. I’ve worked with several doers who love to be involved early, when their perspective can make a real difference. Understanding “why” and helping to shape the underlying vision isn’t a waste of the doer’s time – it fuels their desire for the win.
As a latecomer maybe I derailed a couple of projects, though I prefer to think we saved the team from an incomplete plan and helped them achieve a better outcome. Integration issues are easy to avoid if you get ahead of it. Just define the boundaries. State the mission, purpose, what’s in scope, out of scope, what’s available to be changed or already underway. The doer is wired to spot weaknesses, make improvements and deliver results. If you can’t clearly define the project, don’t fault the doer – thank them! They may have just identified the TEAM’s problem and perhaps saved everyone’s neck.
It’s hard for doers to contribute without adequate boundaries. Everyone doesn’t have the same needs so sometimes I create definition on my own, apart from the team. Still I can be prone to shut down if the win is elusive and I don’t feel that I can perform adequately.