Based on the principles of management by objectives, management by challenge brings a stimulating and exciting dimension through the motivation of personal achievement.
By associating it with the team rather than with each individual separately, the challenge brings other additional benefits:
- stress management. Stress is inherent to the challenge. It's like stage fright before going on stage. What's important is that it doesn't turn into anxiety or panic. Fear of failure, feelings of incapacity and a few other social anxieties can be calmed by the strength of the group, social support and a sense of belonging.
- Positive contagion. This phenomenon, linked to interpersonal trust within a team, enables a minority to sway the rest of the group towards a particular decision. According to HBR, "it only takes 10% of employees to change the whole company"1. This may not be a very scientific demonstration, but it does have the merit of highlighting this phenomenon, which Malcolm Gladwell calls a "social epidemic" in his book "The Tipping Point".
- the multiplication of talents. As the saying goes, "there are more ideas in two heads than in one".
- the clash of ideas. Even if conflict is not seen in a positive light in the workplace, the debate of ideas must remain a priority within teams. As long as it doesn't interfere with performance, it's in a team's interest to welcome debate, and to have people on the team who know how to arbitrate. Here too, the manager's role as facilitator can be very useful.
The challenge will be taken up by the team and not by an isolated member of staff. On their own, they could well find themselves without resources or support from their colleagues, who are also involved in individual challenges.
Challenges are different from competitions. Competition tends to pit individuals or groups of individuals against each other, with the winner being distinguished from the group, and the losers from the mission.
Competition affects employees' social identity, especially when it is undergone. Unlike an athlete at the Olympic Games, an employee does not seek to measure himself against his colleagues. They seek to develop their skills and make themselves useful to the system that employs them.
Today's collective morality leads us to believe that the most important thing is to beat others, to fight, to win. We live in a competitive society. But a winner is a manufacturer of losers. We need to rebuild a human society where competition is eliminated. I don't have to be stronger than the other guy. I have to be stronger than myself, thanks to the other. - Albert Jacquard