When we have different expectations of each other, important tasks are dropped and everyone’s frustrated. We feel let down by each other, we feel unfairly blamed, we mistrust, or we overstep our own roles in order to compensate, treading on other people’s toes. No number of trust-building or team-building exercises can fix these problems, because these are often much less personal than they may feel—they result not from personal betrayal, mistrust, or insensitivity, but from a misalignment in our understanding of what we can count on each other for.
