Secret Sauce of Unstoppable Teams

Teams That Know How to Get on the Same Page, Literally

The Greek philosopher Aristolte’s quote, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, inspired a Google research project named Project Aristotle. The purpose of the research, which included 180+ of their teams, was to help Google understand the ‘secret sauce’ of what makes some teams exceptionally effective and others not-so-much.

What were the findings of Project Aristotle? They uncovered five factors common to effective teams at Google:

• Psychological safety
• Dependability
• Structure and clarity
• Meaning
• Impact

Engage Your Team. Ask the Real Questions.

According to Google’s Project Aristotle research, there are five factors of highly effective teams. To find out if your team is one, ask these questions—and see how many you can say YES to.

• Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?
• Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?
• Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
• Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?
• Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?

If your answer was NO to any or all, then it might be time for your team members to learn how to Get on the Same Page with one another so you can be unstoppable! If your answer was YES to all of these questions, does your team agree?

The Challenge of Getting a Team on the Same Page

Simple. Not Easy has created a single-page methodology where teams can co-create a same page document that all parties can sign off on.

A successful and productive organization is actually a large network of smoothly running partnerships constructed on platforms of trust and respect. These relationships work best when all the participants have clearly stated guidelines for finding common ground and for acknowledging differences in approach that need to be reconciled. Often someone expresses: “It’s important to Get on the Same Page.”–but then what happens?

When most people use the phrase, the same page, they are speaking only metaphorically. The phrase has come to mean that somehow, by some unknown means, we will come to understand and accept our differences. We can then create a common platform for moving forward and our previous disagreements or misunderstandings will not block our future progress. The page to gather on represents a wish and a sometimes desperate need for an effective plan that will work for all parties. 

If you’ve found any of these ideas insightful or useful, we invite you to visit Insights and Real Questions page for additional resources. Contact us to speak with a CoreSelf Advisor today!