Supergroup Success

I’ve been leading teams since I was a Brownie (now Ember) Six pack leader. At the age of eight, I learned a valuable lesson. Despite our credo in the 80’s to “think of others before herself and do a good turn every day”, once you pulled a few Sixers together, it got a little less thoughtful - it became hyper competitive. Guiding is a merit based organization, and plucky young girls out to achieve badges can become as ferocious in their ambitions as a Wall Street broker - I kid you not. It’s often the dynamics of an organization that shape the behaviour of the people in it. But why do some teams thrive in collaboration and others not so much? And why are so many teams riddled with talent so ineffective??

Let’s recall the rock band Chickenfoot - do you remember them? Back in 2008, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony from Van Halen joined up with guitar aficionado Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith to form a ‘supergroup’. I remember the initial hype of their formation more than the music, but they toured until 2016 and had three albums that peaked at 186 on the US charts. They had a few minor releases, with “Oh Yeah” making it to 21 on the Billboard chart. From a ‘star’ perspective, that's fairly mediocre - apologies if “Soap on a Rope” is your jam. On the surface, stacking your band with top musicians should be a recipe for superstar success, but it rarely happens that way.?

Google actually quantified this phenomenon a few years ago in an internal study called Project Aristotle. They wanted to identify the traits of a ‘super-team’ like skills, backgrounds etc. But after analyzing the data of over 180 teams and 200 interviews, they realized the composition of the team was far less important than how the team interacted with each other, their work structure, and how they felt about their contributions. It was the culture that actually mattered.?

Project Aristotle found five key dynamics ‘super’ teams shared that made them effective. The most significant was Psychological Safety, especially regarding risk taking and creativity. Dependability, along with Structure and Clarity, were crucial for members to work together productively with minimal conflict. Finding Meaning in the work and Impact, where members believe their work makes a difference, were also important dynamics for high performing teams. And on the “star studded” teams? Despite having high performers, experienced managers, or lots of resources, their effectiveness wasn’t impacted by the advantages. Without a strong organizational design, clear outcomes and trust - all those talented people are just going to run into each other. Worse, they may actually start to compete against each other - just like a Six pack leader.?

All teams have elements of greatness, but it takes intentional leadership to align their rhythms, along with commitment, structure and practice, practice, practice. Did I say practice? The more teams work on these skills, the better they get. Like bands. But, assembling the band is about what the members create together, not the individual solos.