#7 Emotional Athletics, Culture, and "Teaming" as a Sport w/ Daniel Coyle
Jun 16, 2020
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Daniel Coyle, author of influential books like The Culture Code, dives into the fascinating world of emotional athletics and team dynamics. He discusses the marshmallow experiment, highlighting how spontaneity fosters collaboration. Coyle shares insights from high-performing teams like the San Antonio Spurs, emphasizing emotional connections and communication. He explores the importance of psychological safety and vulnerability in building effective teams, and how language can enhance team cohesion. This conversation is a treasure trove for anyone interested in unlocking team potential.
High-performing teams prioritize emotional connections and effective communication, adapting quickly to challenges in high-pressure situations for optimal success.
Fostering a culture of psychological safety allows team members to express vulnerabilities and learn from mistakes, ultimately enhancing overall team growth.
Clearly defined values and a shared purpose drive team cohesion, creating exceptional experiences and strong relationships necessary for long-term success.
Deep dives
Understanding Mission Critical Teams
Mission critical teams (MCTs) consist of small groups, typically between four to twelve members, trained to handle complex, time-sensitive challenges where failure can result in catastrophic consequences. The concept of MCTs emphasizes the importance of teamwork in high-pressure environments, such as special operations, emergency response, or competitive sports. In these contexts, the ability to adapt quickly to rapidly changing problems is essential, and the team dynamics play a significant role in achieving success. Professionals from various fields, including sports and emergency services, provide valuable insights into the functioning and organizational constructs that contribute to MCT efficiency.
The Factors of High-Performing Teams
The discussion focuses on why some teams successfully outperform others and the underlying dynamics that contribute to high performance. Indicators of success include strong communication patterns, emotional connections, and collaborative problem-solving approaches. Successful teams, like the San Antonio Spurs and Pixar, demonstrate the importance of building relationships and a supportive culture that fosters creativity and innovation. Observations during research reveal that functional teamwork resembles the movement of swarming organisms, emphasizing the value of emotional intelligence and communication over traditional hierarchical structures.
Communication Patterns and Feedback
Effective teamwork hinges on clear and frequent communication, often described as notifications, which can manifest through brief, focused exchanges between team members. These interactions enhance situational awareness and enable quicker decision-making, especially in crisis situations. The experiences from high-stakes scenarios, like the flight crew's communication during an emergency, reveal that fragmented communication can lead to successful outcomes, highlighting that real-time feedback improves performance. Creating an atmosphere where team members feel safe to express ideas and admit mistakes enhances learning and cohesiveness.
Building a Culture of Safety and Vulnerability
Establishing a culture of psychological safety is paramount for high-performing teams, allowing members to share vulnerabilities without fear of negative repercussions. This environment fosters trust and encourages open discussions about mistakes and lessons learned, ultimately contributing to overall team growth. Sharing constructed moments of vulnerability, such as after-action reviews, can be challenging yet instrumental in building resilience within teams. Leaders should cultivate spaces where team members feel empowered to voice their concerns or ideas, shaping an understanding that failure is an opportunity for collective improvement.
The Role of Purpose and Values
Clearly defined values and a shared sense of purpose are essential for team cohesion and long-term success. Teams that prioritize creating raves, or exceptional experiences, over mere transactional interactions tend to build robust relationships and a positive culture. The case of Danny Meyer’s restaurant philosophy showcases how values can drive success by focusing on delivering unparalleled service and creating memorable experiences for guests. Establishing these guiding principles requires thoughtful conversations among team members to define what truly matters in their collective mission.
Strategies for Implementation
To translate discussions on teamwork and culture into actionable strategies, teams can initiate activities to identify their strengths and barriers to high performance. An effective method involves conducting a best practices brainstorming session, encouraging team members to envision their optimal performance and discussing the obstacles currently hindering that reality. By collaboratively addressing these barriers and developing a roadmap for improvement, teams can foster better engagement and alignment with their purposes. Furthermore, leaders should document these insights and ensure that they are referenced regularly to establish a sense of accountability and maintain focus.
Today, I speak with author Dan Coyle. We discuss LOTS of stuff like emotional athletes, the marshmallow experiment, treating "teaming" like a sport, his book The Culture Code, and the central question of the book, which is "Why do some teams add up to be greater than the sum of their parts while others add up to be less?"
Dan reveals what he saw while researching eight teams, teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Pixar, and the Union Square Cafe, by going on site and not looking for traits or descriptors but literally watching what he saw physically, what did people actually do when they were doing whatever it is they do.
