CHAPTER 8

Learner Teams and Judger Teams

It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do.

Margaret J. Wheatley

During our break, I started remembering what it had been like to work at KB. It had been very different from what I was now experiencing at QTec. When I compared the two experiences—KB versus QTec—there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that at KB I had mostly been in Learner. As a research engineer and head tech guy, I did most of my work alone, then reported my findings to the team, taking their questions and providing answers. It was easy to be in Learner most of the time. By contrast, at QTec it was apparent that I was in Judger more often than I cared to admit. No matter where I looked, especially with my team, something seemed to be going wrong or somebody was failing to do what they were supposed to. How could I avoid going into Judger? As Joseph and I continued our meeting that day, I hesitantly shared this observation with him and said, “I’m not sure where to take it from here.”

“I think I can best respond to that with a folk tale,” Joseph replied. “You’ve probably heard of the mythologist Joseph Campbell. He was famous for coming up with exactly the right story for every situation. Here’s one I heard many years ago.

“It seems a farmer was out working his field when his plow caught on something, and it wouldn’t budge. The horse reared up and the farmer cursed. After calming the horse the farmer yanked back on the braces. But the plow still wouldn’t budge. Because he was an impatient man his first reaction was to go into Judger. Had a rock or other obstacle broken his plowshare? That could mean losing at least two days’ work while he hauled the broken parts to the blacksmith! Cursing, he began digging around to free the plow. To his surprise, he discovered that it was caught on an iron ring buried six inches under the ground.

“After freeing his plow, the farmer got curious. He cleared away some of the dirt and pulled on the iron ring. Off came the lid of an ancient chest. He peeked down inside it. Before him, glittering in the sun, lay a treasure of precious jewels and gold.

“This story reminds us that it is often by confronting our toughest obstacles that we find our greatest strengths and possibilities, but sometimes we’ve got to dig deep to find them. Campbell had a phrase for it: Where you stumble, there your treasure is. To uncover that treasure you’d ask yourself questions like: What could I discover? What haven’t I noticed before? What might be valuable here?”

“That might be fine and well. But I’m still not seeing how all this is going to help me. Where’s the treasure in this mess of mine?”

Joseph easily took up my challenge. “How about doing a little excavating,” he said. “To start with, let’s look at how your mindsets and your questions affect people around you.” He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.”-For example, what about that team you’re heading up? How often are you in Judger when you meet with them?”

“Truthfully? Just about every meeting lately!”

“And how would you say you communicate with the members of your team?”

“Communicate? That’s a laugh! Listen, I told you how awful our meetings are. When I do call a meeting nobody has much to offer. They sit on their hands and wait for me to tell them what to do. Finally I talk, and Charles barrages me with his interminable questions. Doesn’t matter what I say, he questions everything.”

“Think of yourself as the farmer in Campbell’s story,” Joseph continued. “When you’re with your team, are you cursing the fact that your plow got stuck, or are you getting curious about finding the door to the treasure? Are you looking for who’s to blame or are you looking for what’s working and what might be possible? Are you asking yourself questions like: How can I show them I have the right answer? Or are you asking: What can we discover and accomplish together? What could they contribute that I haven’t thought of yet?”

I wasn’t sure what I did, but I knew it wasn’t what Joseph was suggesting. “I guess you’ll have to clue me in here.”

“Okay. You’ve been in conferences with Alexa. How does she conduct her meetings? What does she say and do? How do her meetings affect you?”

“I look forward to Alexa’s meetings,” I told Joseph. “They’re always enlivening. I come away with new ideas to pursue. I feel like charging back to my office to start acting on them. But I’ve never been able to figure out what she does to generate that kind of energy and excitement.”

The moment those words were out of my mouth, it hit me. “Alexa asks questions,” I said. “Her meetings are all about questions. But not interrogating kinds of questions. She really piques everyone’s curiosity. Her questions are Learner ones and they motivate us, sometimes even inspire us.”

Joseph sat back in his chair a moment before leaning forward enthusiastically. “Alexa’s questions motivate you to contribute your best. She inspires people to abandon Judger and operate from Learner. She likes to say that ‘Learner begets Learner. And Judger begets Judger.’ You could even call Alexa a Learner leader.” Joseph paused for a moment and then asked, “How do you think her questions are different from yours?”

“Alexa has her style, I have mine,” I said, getting a little defensive.

“Do you ask questions?”

“Sure I ask questions. Besides talking to my people in person, I send out emails and texts asking what they’ve accomplished. Or what they haven’t accomplished, which is more to the point lately. I get very few replies, which is pretty maddening.”

“When they do answer, how do you listen? How do you respond?”

“It depends. If the answer is any good, I might jot it down. But lately, I leave those meetings with nothing.”

“Describe what the experience of listening is like for you,” Joseph said.

That wasn’t difficult. “Mostly I’ve been pretty annoyed and impatient,” I replied, “especially when a person’s answer doesn’t come close to solving the problem, or when it shows that person is not following my plan. I get the impression nobody really cares.”

“In situations like those, what’s your attitude toward your colleagues? Are you in Learner or Judger most of the time?”

“What else! Judger, of course. But nobody is contributing a darn thing . . . if they would only . . .”

Joseph held up his hand. “Whoa! Hold on, my friend. When you’re with your team, it sounds like you’re listening with Judger ears and thinking with Judger questions like: Are they going to screw up again? and How are they going to disappoint me this time?”

“Sure, those sound like my questions. What else would I be asking . . .” I suddenly stopped. “Boy, I just stubbed my toe on the iron ring in the story you told me, didn’t I?”

“You sure did. Good observation! And like the farmer, your first reaction was to go Judger—which is natural enough,” Joseph said. “Now do what the farmer did next. Get curious. Ask yourself, ‘What’s happening here?’ Think about your team, and this time follow the Learner path.”

“Follow the Learner path with my team? You’ve got to be kidding,” I said. “Besides, how would I do that?”

“For starters, listen to them with Learner ears. Reset yourself in Learner mindset before you meet with your team. Try the kinds of questions Alexa asks, like: What do I appreciate about them? What are the best strengths of each one? How can I help them collaborate most productively? How can we stay on the Learner path together?

“I’ll bet you can see how those Learner questions would change everything in a meeting. Alexa’s questions create a Learner environment. They invite everyone—including you—to listen more respectfully, with patience and care. With Learner questions we listen in order to understand the other person rather than to find out who’s right or wrong. That makes it possible for everyone to get curious, feel safe taking risks, and participate fully, even when they’re facing tough challenges.”

“It’s the tough challenges part that gets me in trouble,” I argued. “We’ve got some big problems and nobody is willing to speak up, much less take them on. Plus, there are so many major decisions we disagree on. We just can’t seem to get through the conflicts to the other side. That’s when I get frustrated and start feeling like nothing is ever going to work out. I think myself right down into the Judger Pit.”

“Even though you’ll never be pure Learner or a saint, including with your team, you can learn to choose where you put your attention moment to moment. Any attention you give to Judger isn’t available to give to Learner. Accept Judger, practice Learner. Imprint those words on your brain. It’s as important for teams as it is for individuals.”

“So that’s why Alexa’s meetings are so great,” I reflected. “They’re Learner environments, as you say. I always have the sense that we have her full attention and that she really cares about what we have to say. If she ever goes Judger, I’m sure it’s just for a fleeting visit.” I had a sudden insight. “All she asks are Learner questions, and lots of them. Plus, I’ll bet she gets an almost perfect score on asking questions and listening deeply and generously with just about everyone she knows. That’s why she’s called the inquiring leader, isn’t it?”

“That’s it,” Joseph said. “Alexa genuinely cares about what people have to say. Not only does she ask Learner questions, she also listens with Learner ears. Alexa’s listening is focused by questions such as: What’s valuable here? What’s to be learned from that comment? How can this contribute to what we’re working on? The questions she listens with help her teams turn into Learner teams very quickly. She expects to find the treasure, she looks for it, and because of that she often finds it.

“The Choice Map can help you do this with your team, too. Look at it again. So far, we’ve been thinking about it as a guide for how an individual thinks, behaves, and relates. Now, let’s consider it as a guide for teams. Start thinking in terms of Learner teams and Judger teams.

“I think of Learner teams as being typically high performing and Judger teams as being typically low performing. When researchers explored what distinguished high-performing teams from low-performing ones, can you guess what they found?”

Part of me didn’t even want to know; another part was intrigued. But I decided not to guess. “No, what?” I replied.

“First of all, the high-performing teams had more positive emotions than the low-performing ones. That’s not a big surprise. But what I found revealing was that the low-performing teams were low on inquiry—that is, on asking questions—and high on advocacy—that is, on pushing a particular viewpoint rather than listening to anybody else.”

“So the bottom line,” I said, “is if you want high performance, focus on Learner.”

“Yes,” Joseph said. “But there’s more. The research also showed that high-performing teams consistently had a good balance between inquiry and advocacy—that has to have been Learner inquiry and Learner advocacy. It means that people feel free to ask tough questions and have genuine open debate. They can even argue and have conflicts, yet the atmosphere remains essentially Learner.”

“That’s exactly what happens with Alexa’s meetings,” I said. “This is great!”

“It’s what Alexa calls a Learner Alliance,” Joseph said. “It’s when team members work together to stay on the Learner path. That’s completely opposite of what happens when members of a team go Judger and end up in what I call a Judger stand-off. That’s when each person just defends his own opinion and believes he’s the only one who is right. He turns a deaf ear to anyone else’s ideas. It’s like everyone is in Judger jail together. Nothing gets done, and everyone blames someone else. That’s the real cost of Judger when it takes over a team like that.”

When I pictured the Choice Map I could clearly imagine Alexa’s whole team jogging happily along the Learner path, having set off on their journey with Learner questions. Their attention was free to focus on new solutions and possibilities. Alexa’s team would certainly qualify as a high-performing one. And my team? Most of my people were down at the bottom of the map, mired in the mud of the Judger Pit—and I’d put them there! I hated to admit that most of the time I was being a Judger leader. But accepting that fact was the only way I’d ever get them out.

“I’m just the opposite of Alexa,” I mumbled. “She seems to create a balanced Learner environment almost automatically.”

“She wasn’t always that way. Like most of us,” Joseph noted, “she was automatically more Judger to start with. It usually takes effort and intention to turn the tide and become more naturally Learner. Think about it as deliberately training your brain to do things it doesn’t automatically know how to do. Like anything—learning to drive a car or operate a computer or learning to ride a bike—it requires close attention at first but soon becomes second nature.”

“This is a lot to take in,” I said. “When I first walked into your office, truthfully I was just looking for a quick fix. What you’re offering is obviously a lot bigger.”

Joseph nodded.

“Can’t you narrow it down to a few words of advice?” I joked.

“How often do people really take advice?”

He was right, of course. “I guess I’m an expert at not taking advice.”

“Aren’t we all?” Joseph replied. “Even though it’s hard to resist, I try to avoid giving advice. I know that if I ask good questions, people are smart enough to come up with their own best answers. Our own advice is the only kind most of us listen to and act on anyway . . . But I do have a suggestion for you, Ben.” Joseph flashed his signature mischievous grin. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Sure,” I said—and we both laughed.

“Alexa is a great model for what you and I are working on. She went through a lot of things similar to what you’ve been through in order to accomplish what she has. Next time you meet with Alexa, ask her to tell you about her experiences. I’m sure she’d be happy to.”

Good suggestion! I thought. Then I asked Joseph if there were any other things I should bring up with Alexa.

Joseph nodded. “There is something else. Alexa came up with this terrific Question Thinking practice she calls Q-Storming®. It’s sort of like brainstorming except that you’re looking for new questions instead of answers and ideas. Ask her to explain Q-Storming to you. There’s also a tool about it in your workbook. Alexa credits it with being the catalyst for many of her most important breakthroughs.”

Now that sounded really intriguing—and promising. That’s where Joseph and I ended our conversation that day.

Down on the street a few minutes later, I cut through the park across from the Pearl Building into an open playing field where an older boy was helping a younger one learn to ride his bicycle. I stopped to watch.

In spite of spills and near falls, they were having fun. There were shouts of encouragement, along with cries of despair as the younger boy made yet another mistake and tumbled to the ground. Each time the younger boy fell, the older one rushed to his side to give assistance and support to try again.

Finally, the younger boy caught on. He rode off, covering 50 feet or so, with the older boy chasing after him, whooping and hollering cries of victory. I caught myself thinking Why are adults so damned competitive? Why are they so uncooperative, always looking for ways to show up the other guy? Why did I have to put up with people like Charles? I was getting angry.

I turned around to catch one last glimpse of the kids before climbing into my car. Now the two of them were standing beside the upright bike, laughing together. The expressions on their faces told me everything. The new bike rider glowed with the excitement of having achieved something new. And this experience had triggered that universal I-did-that response that I must admit always gives me a glow. I reached for the ignition key and thought: Wouldn’t it be amazing if our team could work together just like those kids? I wonder what it would take to make that happen—to trigger that I-did-that response again and again.

At that moment I realized I’d done something that was still quite new for me. I had transformed Judger questions into Learner ones. Not bad, I thought. A chill of excitement ran up the whole length of my spine. I guess those kids weren’t the only ones who could experience the pleasure of the I-did-that response. I couldn’t wait to share this with Joseph. That’s when it occurred to me that maybe I really could follow Alexa’s example—turn my team into a Learner team by becoming a Learner leader. The inquiring coach, as Alexa called Joseph, was really onto something! I wanted to find out what else Joseph had up his sleeve. I was beginning to feel real hope that maybe it wasn’t too late to salvage my career.