Star Performer, Showstopper, and Lazy Teammate

Kenya

1 min read

Why are you envious of that colleague who doesn’t do “good” work but excels at presenting teamwork?

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 11, 2023/-- I have fond memories of one studio class crit at architectural school. The always jovial lecturer, Dr. Yusuf Ebrahim was going through our penultimate pinned up work and paused next to me. “Hey! Guys, architecture is more about showmanship than mere effort.” These words, though casually stated got to me and was reinforced further by a later statement made by senior lecturer Kigara Kamweru, “As Beyonce says, can you back it up.”

This shifted my long-held view of performers, who many of my colleagues termed as bullshitters. Since they were no-show or lukewarm in group-work but marveled during presentations. In hindsight, they even cared more about the collective work and its wider context than the original drafters.

What was their cheat code?

Personally, I took some time to observe their mode of operation and tried to figure out their thinking. These fellows actually applied their energy and thinking efficiently on matters they believed would make them succeed strategically as opposed to tactical wins. Eventually, most of them perfected their craft over the years in school and are benefiting big time in the practice world.

Manchester United fans are fond of calling their stadium, Old Trafford “The Theatre of Dreams” and I believe each creative office, studio or atelier is a theatre of dreams. And this should be held devoutly in an organization's culture of work delivery within and without.

A creative should care about the presentation of his or her offerings as much as its preparation or even more than.

Aiming for a good performance pushes a team to think clearly about strategic planning which is basically informed rehearsal.

I also remember a bit of wisdom from a colleague (a true performer) during group critiques. “Why do you need all these iterations? Pick one and shine with it.” This has become clearer each day as I pitch work to clients. And I hope in future to write about the inefficiency of design by polling.

Valuing each others input and output is essential for winning and maintaining consistent work. And it's also good reason to have everyone rooting for the presenter on stage as well as we do for the originator at the desk.

Imagine a world where Steve Jobs never existed but Steve Wozniak single-handedly birthed Apple and raised it.

By Phineahs Munene

email feedback to phineahs [at] wazomoja.com

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