Why Teams Matter More Than Ever for Innovation - Mike Cohn

A few years ago, I worked with a product team that was stuck.
They were smart, experienced, and deeply committed to building something meaningful. But despite their talent, their work felt...flat. They were completing tasks, but they weren’t creating anything truly innovative. They weren’t challenging each other’s thinking. They weren’t imagining possibilities beyond the obvious ones.
Then something shifted.
During a planning meeting, someone asked a question that reframed the whole discussion: “What problem are we really trying to solve?”
That question sparked a debate — a lively one — and within minutes, the room was buzzing with ideas none of them had considered before. They envisioned possibilities, challenged assumptions, pushed each other, and built on each other’s thinking. By the end of the meeting, they had the beginnings of a breakthrough.
What changed?
Not the people. Not the tools. Not the process.
What changed was the team, acting like a team again — sharing purpose, curiosity, and creativity.
And that’s when I was reminded of a simple truth:
Real innovation happens when people think together.

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