Lord of the Flies: Interaction and counteraction

HOW CAN WE HELP PEOPLE TO WORK TOGETHER TOWARDS A COMMON, SUPEREMINENT GOAL?

Kick-off gatherings do not work. The effects of motivation seminars are shorter than the football coaches’ who hold the seminars. Nobody reads the glossy value statements coined through discussions between chief executives. There is no simple answer except for the difficult answer: Teamwork and goal achievement come about through the process of understanding and influencing group dynamic. Groups who fail to understand themselves can be deadly for others and especially for themselves.

Topics of relevance include: 

  • Group dynamics on and off track.
  • The shocking insight of The Lord of the Flies – conflict is always an option.
  • The tendency to break things down in black and white, bad and good.
  • The hunt for scapegoats.
  • The fight between fractions – even in the best of families and idealistic movements.
  • Latent conflicts – how to avoid them, how to solve them.
  • Self-destructiveness in organizations. 

The seminar is based on one of the best books about group dynamics, The Lord of the Flies, connecting it to modern-day theory and research. The novel provides insights on irrational processes found in interactions and how to deal with these. Reason is not always enough. On paper, any plan and team line-up can appear correct, but in the processes that unfold everything can move in the opposite direction. Leaders should have built-in alarms to detect such tendencies at an early stage. They will then have greater latitude to do something about it. If not, one can lose control over the process, undermining results achievement. 

Steinar's story telling skills bring to life the lessons of leadership in the backdrop of historic leadership figures; an inspiration to the whole organisaton.

Grethe Moen, President & CEO, Petoro