The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

by Daniel Coyle

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.

“This is a different way of thinking about human beings,” Pentland says. “Individuals aren’t really individuals. They’re more like musicians in a jazz quartet, forming a web of unconscious actions and reactions to complement the others in the group.

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.

Cohesion happens not when members of a group are smarter but when they are lit up by clear, steady signals of safe connection.

Name and Rank Your Priorities:

Be Ten Times as Clear About Your Priorities as You Think You Should Be:

Figure Out Where Your Group Aims for Proficiency and Where It Aims for Creativity:

Embrace the Use of Catchphrases:

Measure What Really Matters:

Use Artifacts:

Focus on Bar-Setting Behaviors: