Teamwork As A Trainer: Collaboration Success In Training
Written By Lauren Tsao, MS, CDBC, CPDT-KA
This is an exciting part of our series on Leadership in Animal Training, as I was reading in Ferrazzi’s book, “Leading Without Authority” (2020) we are following for this series, he discusses collaboration among teams and team members. My mind immediately went to collaborating with trainers who might use methods we personally disagree with or do not use in our own practice for one reason or another. Life, however, doesn’t just give us people we agree with, and sometimes there will be a good reason for us to need to peacefully collaborate with people whose ethical stances are different from our own. Even in professional debates and conversations at conferences, there is a chance for each person to input their opinion into the conversation for review by the group.
“Bold Input is the gift you receive when you solicit candid and courageous feedback from a radically inclusive team. When team members can engage openly in back-and-forth conversations, they debate what’s working, what isn’t, and what they should do more or less of.”
So, why does this matter to us? It is definitely easier to only work with people who agree with us on every subject, but those people can be difficult to find and we decrease our educational reach when doing this too. However, I have had experiences as a trainer which have required that I work with people who don’t train the same way I do for a better outcome in our shared case. When we are on teams together and allow civil disagreement to occur, something magical happens if we allow it. Ferrazzi defines this as a concept he calls bold input. Bold input is essentially achieved through civil debating and discussing what is and is not working within the project (Ferrazzi, 2020, pg. 100).
This is something I would love to see animal professionals take into consideration on social media when discussing cases with each other or sharing a mutual case with each other. It is okay or even good, in some cases, to disagree and debate your options. In training, there are multiple ways to achieve the same outcome - even if you are solely focused on using positive reinforcement-based methods only.
“To have successful meritocracy, you have to do three things:
1. Put your honest thoughts out on the table.
2. Have thoughtful disagreements in which people are willing to shift their opinions as they learn.
3. Have agreed-upon ways of deciding if disagreements remain so that you can move beyond them without resentments.”
Now that we know this information, what do we do with it? I believe as professionals, we need to accept that other professionals will disagree with us when we collaborate. These debates allow for creativity and new ideas to be born, rather than us all preaching to the choir. As long as the other party is willing to shift their opinions through learning, as Ferrazzi states (2020, pg. 110), there is a great possibility that everyone leaves with further food for thought and a new outlook - which could be even more insightful than the outlook you came into the debate with.
If you or your dog training team are struggling with teamwork among yourselves or your students, check out our workshops and webinars, which you can attend virtually or in person at our Jackson, MS metro dog training facility for help. Until next time, keep an open mind and open heart!
References:
Ferrazzi, K. (2020). Leading without authority. New York: Currency
