#davesdailychallenge (77): Forming…Storming…Norming…Performing. In 1965 a man by the name of Bruce Tuckman first proposed the title model of group development. I have found these stages, in whatever form they take, to be present in nearly every team I’ve been a part of in my student and professional career. What I find most fascinating about this model, and what I want to leave you with today, is that Tuckman argues that each of these stages are a vital part of a team’s development and are necessary to reach the end goal of ideally performing at a high level. Many leaders or managers try to mess with this process as they inherently view the “storming” or “norming” phases as negative. They aren’t comfortable with the chaos that can often be a part of a group of people coming together to figure out their respective norms. These team leaders are making a big mistake by attempting to over-engineer human nature. You just can’t expect a brand new team to immediately, and consistently, deliver outstanding results. Instead, be comfortable with the uncertainty. Allow your team members to be creative, make mistakes, learn, and test their limits. The two aforementioned middle phases are generally characterized by a lot of churn. You can reduce the time these phases take by allowing your people to be themselves and utilizing their individual strengths for the benefit of the whole. After all, you’re a leader. This is why you’re there. If you don’t fear the uncertainty, and you deliberately fill your team with that confidence, then they’ll be set up to eventually perform like rockstars. Good luck my friends.