The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving 583: The Four Pillars of Elite Teams (with Colin M. Fisher)
Sep 3, 2025
Colin M. Fisher, an Associate Professor at University College London and author of The Collective Edge, shares his expertise on high-performing teams. He discusses four essential elements: team composition, goal clarity, task interdependence, and social norms. Fisher reveals that ideal teams average 4.5 members to enhance cohesion, and stresses the need for clear, challenging goals. He also underscores the dangers of micromanagement and highlights the significance of psychological safety for fostering open communication and collaboration within teams.
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From Jazz Bands To Group Science
- Colin recounts starting as a jazz trumpet player and noticing variable group performance.
- That early experience sparked his decades-long study of why groups sometimes transcend and sometimes fail.
Structure Trumps Surface-Level Fixes
- Managers overfocus on interpersonal fixes while ignoring structural causes of team problems.
- Composition, goals, tasks, and norms are the core structural levers that explain most team failures.
Define Boundaries And Keep Teams Small
- Define the team's boundaries and keep teams small, ideally four to five people.
- Small teams balance coordination costs and member satisfaction for better performance.
