When I was thinking a lot about team dynamics I defaulted to Team metaphors. An issue I came to was how to differentiate between practicing and competing. Okay, so the sports metaphor breaks down there…fine.
But, it actually doesn’t if I change my language a little. What if, Instead of practice vs competition, I recognize that all the reps matter.
There are phrases that have been beaten into the ground like “practice like you want to perform”, “perfect practice makes perfect”, “practice makes permanent”.
When I can see all team interactions not as “work” but as part of team practice I approach it differently. I don’t need measurables or benchmarking from previous interactions – rather I can just observe and identify trends and patterns and adjust accordingly. If my teammate also approaches interactions that way, the net out is confidence in each other.