designing team readiness

Jogi Rippel

Co-founder & CEO, Tignum

What challenges are people facing at work right now?
People are dealing with huge amounts of complexity and uncertainty while also feeling fatigued and frustrated. They are facing a constantly changing finish line while expectations and targets only grow. Even tougher, they are trying to make sense of a new set of demands and rules while trying to patch up energy leaks as they pop up. All of this while not having met many of their new teammates in person to create authentic bonds and a sturdy support system. The normal relationship-building moments are gone. In the old days, after an emotional and difficult meeting, you could meet at the coffee machine for an espresso and a personal check-in. Today the emotional load grows. The good news is that we have found that when people change their mindset and show up with personal intentions – how they want to be perceived, what they want others to know and how they want others to feel – the game changes significantly.

Is that why you developed the Tignum X Toolbox?
We developed the Toolbox for several reasons. First, we realised that entire organisations should benefit from the proven tools and strategies that the CEO and their leadership teams receive. Second, we realised that everyone is unique and that every day poses unique challenges, so everyone needs an array of tools and strategies. Finally, we realised that people need help immediately. Whether it’s shifting from an emotionally driven or reactive mindset to a proactive or solutions-oriented mindset, or analysing what you are feeling and what type of fatigue you are experiencing – physical, cognitive or emotional – we all need a proven toolbox in our pocket. Traditional e-learning won’t work in these situations.

Can you explain how the strategies are science-based?
Humans are complex and, to be honest, human performance in the business world is not well studied. At the same time, our clients are highly intelligent and critical. For this reason, we have a science and innovation board, a diverse group of expert coaches and an R&D team to perform and interpret research. This group consists of experts in cognitive science, sleep science, fatigue science, performance nutrition, performance psychology, exercise physiology and more. Our teams take research from athletes, astronauts, special forces soldiers and more, and we extrapolate how their findings could support businesses. From here, we create strategies and tools, and test them on ourselves and our most elite clients. Finally, we develop and simplify what works and throw out the rest, making sure that our solutions are pragmatic and efficient.

Tignum focuses on teams...
In a company, everything great that gets done is done by teams. Therefore, when we look at sustainable human performance, we know that you have to build it into the team ethos and culture. Most of the time, leaders think about the mission the team is on, the goals and targets that have been set. But too often they miss the sustainable human performance part. When we work with a team that is leading a transformation, a merger, an IPO or a product launch, we know that if the individuals and the team don’t have enough mental agility, resilience and adaptability, they will fail. Recently, a client asked us to support their team to deliver their new products at twice the speed and half the cost. We asked him whether it mattered if half the team became burnt out or if key team members were lost along the way. Then we asked, “What if you could achieve the target but the third target had to be that everyone on the team ended this project 10 per cent stronger?” Suddenly he understood the importance of sustainable human performance to individuals as well as to the team. This new way of thinking makes the impossible possible. It allows team members to show commitment and make the impact they want to make away from work. When the pandemic hit, we were already supporting teams virtually. We didn’t have to add to the noise that was coming from all directions with random tips and tricks. We were ready with scientifically proven real solutions, a virtual studio in Phoenix and a digital platform to provide personal tools on the go. When you track team members’ recovery and load, and you provide them with practical and pragmatic solutions to show up at their best, they get stronger from stress rather than weaker. They are more creative and they collaborate better. They multiply the energy both inside and outside their team, and we have found that they often surprise even themselves as to the value they can create. We learn from stress, we get better, we become less fragile. By helping companies to be better, they move away from potential crises.

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Next month we decamp to Mallorca to visit the Tignum Box, a coastal retreat where the company’s clients can escape for three days in the remote countryside and be guided through sessions with the themes Unload, Reset and Refocus.

To find out more, visit tignum.com