What do you do when your team works hard, but the market keeps moving the goalposts? In 2006, a UBS wealth management team in Zurich faced exactly that. A changing and challenging regulatory environment in a key overseas client market made business harder, and morale was slipping. Samuel Notz, Executive Director at UBS AG and the team's lead, wanted to bring positivity, creativity, and team spirit back into his team. So he invited Thinkergy's founder, Dr. D, to run a one-day workshop: Genius Journey mindsets in the morning, and X-IDEA's two creative stages, Ideation and Development, in the afternoon.

The setting could hardly have been more inviting: a venue on the Uetliberg, the mountain overlooking Zurich, on a sunny late Indian-summer day. The mood among the 24 delegates was another matter. It was a Saturday, and not everyone was happy to be there. Early on, one notoriously negative delegate openly challenged Dr. D. Instead of defending himself, Dr. D replied, "That's an interesting point. Let's talk about it," and praised him for raising it. The surprise disarmed the room. In other words, sometimes the fastest way to win over a critic is to agree that he has a point. From then on, the whole team opened up.

In the morning, the delegates used Bug Listing to write down everything that currently bugged them in their jobs. We condensed their lists into one Final Challenge: how to bring more positivity, team spirit, and energy into the team during a difficult period. In the afternoon, an intensive ideation circuit of ten stations was followed by concept development.

One concept began as the wildest idea of the day: "Make our boss our slave." Rather than dismissing it, one team member tamed it with Pass the Buck, a development tool that moves a wild idea three steps away from the original until a workable concept emerges. The result was a monthly ritual: the team lead coaches and assists the employee of the month for half a day, in the afternoon, joins their calls, and helps them crack a tough client challenge, followed by a team dinner. Ultimately, the wildest idea of the day turned the hierarchy upside down once a month, and brought the team closer together.

Is your team doing good work in a tough environment, yet losing energy and spirit? Contact us to find out how X-IDEA and Genius Journey may help your people turn their frustrations into a shared challenge, generate fresh ideas, and rediscover the positive energy that makes teams perform.