SPEAK LIKE A CEO 298: Why Your Team Is Underperforming - And How to Fix It. Colin M. Fisher
Aug 28, 2025
Colin M. Fisher, a Harvard-trained management professor and former jazz musician, discusses team performance insights from his book, The Collective Edge. He debunks myths about collaboration, emphasizing that large teams often lead to slower decision-making and confusion. Fisher highlights the difference between genuine trust and superficial team-building tactics. He shares how jazz improvisation can enhance leadership and collaboration. His strategies help revitalize stagnant teams without needing drastic measures like firings, focusing instead on clarity and supportive environments.
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Task-Based Trust Trumps Trust Falls
- Trust has two flavors: relational and task-based, and teams mostly need task-based trust.
- Task-based trust is built by working together on real tasks, not by trust falls or silly exercises.
From Jazz Improviser To Team Scholar
- Colin describes moving from jazz musician to Harvard researcher after studying improvisation and creativity.
- His master's work led him to Teresa Mabley and then to a PhD at Harvard studying team collaboration.
What Jazz Teaches Team Design
- Jazz combos highlight clear roles, shared norms, listening, and intrinsic motivation that many teams lack.
- Organizations must create those role clarity and norms when they don't exist naturally.
