I'm currently in a series of blogs discussing how the principle of unconscious compensation affects teamwork.  Sometimes, when you try to achieve conscious objectives, something can happen unconsciously that works against what you are trying to achieve.  The example I gave a couple of days ago was that of an anti-SUV campaigner whose argument unconsciously conveys the unpalatable message "don't protect your family", which makes it difficult to accept the anti-SUV argument for emotional reasons.

The most powerful way to counter the compensatory tendency of the unconscious (of opposing your conscious objectives) is to raise awareness: by becoming aware of your own unconscious, and incorporating it into your conscious standpoint, you reduce its impact.  For example, if the anti-SUV campaigner becomes aware of the unintended, unconscious impact he is having when making his argument, and accepts that the unconscious message might have a negative impact on others, then his behaviour will automatically change.  He would no longer be sending out an unconscious message ("don't protect your family") because he would now be consciously aware of it.  And his conscious message can now be modified to take the legitimate concerns of parents into account, eg: he can suggest alternative ways of taking their children to school in the safest possible way.

Activities that increase individual self-awareness can therefore be very valuable in a team, especially those that focus on awareness of one's own unconscious, such as Johari Window exercises.  Such exercises are aimed at helping team members exchange perceptions of each other, and by listening to others' views of you, you can find out things about yourself that you hadn't realised (ie: they were unconscious, but are made conscious).

The same principle can also work at a team level.  Just as there is an individual conscious and unconscious, so too there is a group conscious and unconscious.  A team can improve their relationships with other teams, their handling of conflict and their overall performance by understanding their collective unconscious dynamics.

This is an area where our Team Dynamics Assessment can help.  This questionnaire is free to use at our website, and can help a team identify some of the unconscious dynamics that may be operating in the team.  It is derived from Carl Jung's personality theory and is therefore compatible with, and can be used alongside, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® Questionnaire.   It combines the concepts of mental functions (Sensing, iNtuition, Thinking, Feeling, etc.) and unconscious complexes.  It should never be used to make judgments about a team, only to help raised the team's awareness about their own team dynamics.  I posted on how to get started with the Team Dynamics Assessment in a previous blog.