Insights
The Complete Guide to Building Strong Team Foundations
Every high-performing team shares the same secret: they've stopped pretending everything's fine and started building foundations that actually work. Look at your team right now—some engaged, others checked out, most somewhere in between. That's not a people problem. That's what happens when teams run on assumptions instead of agreements, personality clashes instead of psychological safety. This guide reveals the hidden architecture of exceptional teams and the specific steps to transform yours from a collection of individuals into a unified force. Because the difference between teams that struggle and teams that soar isn't talent—it's the foundation they build together.
The Spaghetti Tower Challenge
Have you heard of Peter Skillman's Spaghetti Tower Challenge? (If you haven't participated yet, spoiler alert: I'm about to ruin the surprise.)
I did this exercise a few years back, and what happened completely flipped my understanding of how teams really work.
Do You Have “That Guy” on Your Team?
Have you had this discussion with your team? Are they holding people accountable in ways you are unaware of?Here’s a tip - Have a theoretical conversation on what it takes to be a good teammate. Have the team list out qualities and agree on a top 5 . If there is an issue on your team, a “quality” will be surfaced that is being broken.
Who are Your Team Anchovies, Who is Your Salt?
This is the hard part of being a leader - often times leaders are given teams that they didn't hire, figuring out how to assemble the best recipe with a set amount of ingredients. While the leader may set the table for the culture of the team, how each person shows up and interacts determines the true flavor of team itself.
Navigating Territorial Expertise in Teams
Imagine a department is represented by physical territory. When someone represents a department, they are a representing the whole territory. Basic expectations, norms, communication modalities and even how the mission, vision, and values show up can be vastly different in each territory. As organizations get larger, so can the variance between these territories.
How to Improve Team Performance: The Power of Reciprocity in Organizations
Dive deep into the principle of reciprocity to unlock the secrets of optimal team performance across every organizational level. Discover strategies and insights to harness this power for productivity and collaboration.
Navigating Team Dynamics: Beyond the Zero-Sum Mentality
Explore the challenges and solutions of inter-team dynamics, understanding the pitfalls of zero-sum games, and the strategies to foster collaboration and synergy in modern workplaces.
Four Pillars to Build Solid Communities
As we hopefully near the end of the pandemic, the focus on community is strong. People are finding new virtual communities, re-entering in person communities, and forging hybrid variations. As we develop and grow our communities moving forward, we will build strong and healthy ones by focusing on the pillars of purpose, activities, relationships, and exchange