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Why do certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts, while others add up to be less?
Peter Skillman
Stanford,
University of California,
University of...
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business students
It was professional, rational, and intelligent.
kindergartners
We presume skilled individuals will combine to produce skilled performance in the same way we presume two plus two will combine to produce four.
twenty-six inches tall,
less than ten inches.*1
We focus on what we can see—individual skills. But individual skills are not what matters. What matters is the interaction.
status management.
Who is in charge? Is it okay to criticize someone’s idea? What are the rules here?
They spend so much time managing status that they fail to grasp the essence of the problem
The actions of the kindergartners appear disorganized on the surface.
The kindergartners succeed not because they are smarter but because they work together in a smarter way.
Group culture
(A strong culture increases net income 756 percent over eleven years, according to a Harvard study of more than two hundred companies.)
Skill 1—Build Safety—explores how signals of connection generate bonds of belonging and identity. Skill 2—Share Vulnerability—explains how habits of mutual risk drive trusting cooperation. Skill 3—Establish Purpose—tells how narratives create shared goals and values.
Jonathan’s group succeeds not because its members are smarter but because they are safer.
This word is not friends or team or tribe or any other equally plausible term. The word they use is family.
Belonging cues possess three basic qualities: 1. Energy: They invest in the exchange that is occurring 2. Individualization: They treat the person as unique and valued 3. Future orientation: They signal the relationship will continue
The key to creating psychological safety, as Pentland and Edmondson emphasize, is to recognize how deeply obsessed our unconscious brains are with it. A mere hint of belonging is not enough; one or two signals are not enough. We are built to require lots of signaling, over and over. This is why a sense of belonging is easy to destroy and hard to build. The dynamic evokes the words of Texas politician Sam Rayburn: “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”
Overall Pentland’s studies show that team performance is driven by five measurable factors:
Group performance depends on behavior that communicates one powerful overarching idea: We are safe and connected.
We are close, we are safe, we share a future.
Cohesion happens not when members of a group are smarter but when they are lit up by clear, steady signals of safe connection.
Are we connected? Do we share a future? Are we safe?
Are we connected?
Do we share a future?
Are we safe?
at a picnic. Then he sets down his plate and
“He delivers two things over and over: He’ll tell you the truth, with no bullshit, and then he’ll love you to death.”
he makes sure that everybody feels connected and engaged to something bigger.”
I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.
“I try to help things happen organically,”
Collisions—defined as serendipitous personal encounters—are, he believes, the lifeblood of any organization, the key driver of creativity, community, and cohesion.
proximity functions as a kind of connective drug. Get close, and our tendency to connect lights up.
Overcommunicate Your Listening:
Spotlight Your Fallibility Early On—Especially If You’re a Leader:
“To create safety, leaders need to actively invite input,”
Embrace the Messenger:
Preview Future Connection:
Overdo Thank-Yous:
Be Painstaking in the Hiring Process:
Eliminate Bad Apples:
Create Safe, Collision-Rich Spaces:
Make Sure Everyone Has a Voice:
Pick Up Trash:
