Who should be on the 100-Day Challenge team?
Who Should be on the 100-Day Team?
Your team composition is dictated by your Focus Area. Once you have defined what you want to fix (e.g., “Reducing Court Backlogs”), you must identify every department, function, or organisation that touches that process.
Getting the right people in the room is half the battle. This guide will help you engage leaders to help you pick a team that can truly deliver results.
Deep Dive Video
Building the Dream Team
Start with the "Iceberg of Ignorance"
When selecting team members, don’t just look at the top of the organisational chart. We need people who know what is really happening on the front lines. There is a famous business concept known as the Iceberg of Ignorance (popularised by consultant Sidney Yoshida). It illustrates a critical truth about organisational awareness:
- Top Management (The Tip): Often aware of only ~4% of day-to-day problems.
- Middle Management: Aware of ~9% of problems.
- Supervisors: Aware of ~74% of problems.
- Frontline Staff (The Base): Aware of 100% of the day-to-day problems.
The Lesson: If you only put senior leaders on the team, you are solving problems based on 4% visibility. To solve the other 96%, you need individual contributors and first-line managers in the room.
- Go to the Source: Select members who are “close to the ground” and have firsthand experience with the issues.
- Mix it Up: While leadership support is vital, err on the side of including individual contributors and first-line managers rather than just senior officials.
Check out this video on the Iceberg of Ignorance…
Representation Matters
Social Impact challenges rarely sit within a single department or organisation
- Cross-Functional is Key: Ask yourself: which departments, functions, or outside organisations touch this problem?.
- Detailed Selection: Once you know which departments or organisation are needed, identify specifically who from those teams has the energy and knowledge to contribute.
Type of Team Members that are the Best Fit
When reviewing candidates, look for these traits rather than just job titles:
Proximity
Do they personally handle the process you are trying to fix?
Frustration
Are they frustrated by the current status quo? (Frustration is a great fuel for change).
Curiosity
Are they open to trying new ways of working, or are they defenders of “how we’ve always done it”?
Capacity
Can they commit roughly 10% of their time (a few hours a week) to this sprint?
Engage the Leaders of Team Members, Early on
You cannot do this alone! Successful teams are built when leaders step up as “100-Day Challenge Supporters”.
- The Ask: Leaders shouldn’t just sign off; they need to help you recruit the Team.
- The Commitment: Ensure leaders from all represented organisations are comfortable with the Challenge and committed to supporting the work.
- The Connection: Leaders will need to check in every two weeks to remove obstacles, so make sure they are ready to stay engaged.
To be a good supporter of a 100-Day Challenge, leaders needs to lead with “Confident Humility”
- Confidence to challenge the Team to go for truly ambitious goals.
- Humility to admit that you don’t have the answers—and to trust the frontline staff who do.
Leaders should practice confident humility by balancing the authority to direct the initiative with the willingness to step back and let frontline staff solve the actual problems.
Here is how leaders can practice this approach to support their teams:
Exercise Confidence by Setting the Vision: Leaders must have the confidence to “Challenge the Team to think big and hold the space” for the work to happen. This involves providing the necessary authority and structure for the team to operate, ensuring that the 100-Day Challenge is taken seriously.
Exercise Humility by Admitting Ignorance: Leaders must have the humility to admit they “don’t have the answers”.
- The “Iceberg of Ignorance”: This humility is grounded in the reality that top management is typically aware of only ~4% of day-to-day problems, whereas frontline staff are aware of 100% of them.
- Trust the Experts: Consequently, leaders must trust the frontline staff who actually possess the answers to these problems.
Actively Support Without Dominating: To practice this dynamic effectively, leaders need to take specific actions to support the team without micromanaging the solution:
- Recruit, don’t just sign off: Leaders need to actively help “recruit the team” rather than passively signing off on a list.
- Remove Obstacles: Instead of directing the daily work, leaders need to check in every two weeks specifically to “remove obstacles” so the Team can maintain momentum.
- Stay Engaged: Leaders need to remain committed and engaged throughout the process to ensure the Team feels supported.
Team Selection Score Card
During the programme, we will reflect on how well we designed and guided the basics of what makes a 100-Day Project a real 100-Day Challenge. Selecting the right team is the first “test” we will use. The second will be about the “quality” of the100-Day Goal. And the third will be about the “quality” of the 100-Day Plan.
You can start using the scorecard, even at this stage, to check how robust your Team composition is. Some elements of the score card can only be evaluated after the Team had started their sprint.
Aim for Level 5 to ensure your 100-Day Challenge has the power to succeed!
Criterion
Level 1: Needs Urgent Attention
Level 3: Developing Level
Level 5: Gold Standard
Leader-Led Recruitment
System interactions were absent during Team selection. Team members were randomly assigned or volunteered without leadership backing.
Leaders approved the list but were passive. Leaders signed off but did not actively encourage specific individuals to join.
Active Champions. Leaders actively helped identify and recruit Team members, ensuring the right mix of talent and passion.
Organisational Representation
Siloed. Key departments/organisations are missing. The Team represents only one viewpoint or function, ignoring the complexity of the system.
Partial Picture. Most key departments are present, but critical external partners or specific functions are missing.
System-Wide Unity. Leaders of “all the organisations represented on the Team” are involved and committed, covering every angle of the Challenge.
Trust Dynamics
(From Start-up)
“Why are we here?” The mood is stuck in confusion or skepticism. Participants feel forced to attend and trust is low.
Cautious Optimism. The Team is formed, but trust levels are modest. The mood is neutral, and the energy hasn’t fully shifted yet.
Excitement & Buy-In. The mood successfully shifted from “why are we here?” to “I am excited to be part of this.” High trust allows for open, honest debate,.
System Interaction
Disconnected. Leaders and staff remain in their hierarchy. Interaction is formal, stiff, or non-existent.
Polite Coexistence. Interaction occurs, but it is limited or purely transactional. Leaders interact but guard their turf.
Insightful Collaboration. There are strong observations on how “leaders in the system interacted with each other,” leading to new insights about the issue and potential solutions.
Overall Assessment:
- Score mostly 1s? Pause. You need to re-engage leadership and widen your net before launching.
- Score mostly 5s? You are ready for the Race
