ACE: A Model for Great Teams and Great Relationships
by Dr. Troy H. Campbell
On Your Feet developed the ACE model based on our belief that great teams consistently take the time to acknowledge, connect, and explore together.
ACE is a model for all great teams—whether that team consists of two people or a thousand—and it’s about fostering all sorts of good relationships—from friendships to romantic partnerships to work teams.
ACE Relationships
In good relationships with friends, family members, and significant others, you take time to acknowledge as you celebrate them in little ways, giving compliments and small gifts. You express gratitude for what they do for you, and you see their struggles and reality.
You probably also take time to connect by sharing experiences, having conversations about your commonalities, and hearing the many stories they have to share. Through these interactions, you bond and get to know each other even better.
You explore by taking time to wonder “what if?” as you consider new activities, restaurants, and vacations. You take the time to learn new ways to cook and dance, new things to watch and play.
A good couple may take time each week to acknowledge, connect, and explore in these ways. And, then, on special occasions such as anniversaries and birthdays, the couple takes extensive time on a date or vacation to focus on acknowledging, connecting, and exploring together.
The same goes for all great teams, including those at work. Great work teams tend to spend time each week acknowledging, connecting, and exploring together, and every so often they take a full meeting or entire weekend retreat to fully focus on these three key actions.
Formalizing the Model
Through formal exercises, On Your Feet helps organizations be more ACE focused in their daily relationships and then provides them with monthly or quarterly ACE experiences—sort of like the special occasions that occur in other great relationships. With virtual teams, these experiences are called ACE HIVEs (highly interactive virtual experiences).
There’s a lot fun implicit in the ACE model, but it is more than fun. It’s about fulfilling the deeper needs and practices that make a team great. The ACE model delivers what we call our motto at On Your Feet: “More joy, less fear, and better results.”
ACE Is a Behavioral Model
Finally, it is important to note that ACE is a behavioral model. This means it’s about actions, the things you should do.
The core behaviors of acknowledging, connecting, and exploring are absolutely necessary to produce any team that is good by almost any standard. Some teams are adept at forging personal connections, while other teams are good at exploring a bunch of options. If you are a great team, though, you are doing some version of ACE.
Lots of people ask, “What does a good team look like?” And then they consider outcomes like “they are close,” “they have trust,” or “they are creative.” Exploring outcomes is important, but it’s often not useful or broadly applicable for several reasons. First, great teams all look different. And, second, outcome models don’t guide actions.
The ACE model is about actions. And for that reason, it is a functionally broad model for inspiring actions in relationships of all kinds.
