The New Crop: Issue #114
what makes a team a team? + "something's broken in product -- and it's not the tech"
What’s in this issue:
💭 Thought: What makes a team a team?
📚 Read: Something’s Broken in Product — and It’s Not the Tech
😀 Today’s Smile
Something to try to bring a smile and some playfulness this week:
Eat something you loved as a kid.
Spray cheese, anyone?
💭 Today’s Thought
This week, I came across this definition from HBR of a team:
A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.
At first glance, this probably seems obvious.
Upon deeper reading, I’m drawn to two things:
The use of the word committed
The emphasis on mutual accountability
It’s not enough to have a common purpose, goals, and approach; a team is only a team if there’s a wholehearted dedication to those things.
A team is also not truly a team if any of these are true:
Its members aren’t held accountable at all
Only one person bears the responsibility of holding others accountable (i.e. the leader)
Accountability doesn’t also flow upwards, from members to the leader
This week, reflect on your team(s), asking:
Do we have a shared purpose, goals, and approach?
Does everyone feel committed to these? How do I know?
Does everyone share the responsibility of holding each other accountable, and to receiving accountability?
If any of these come back “no”, what would be the first step you could take towards turning them to a “yes”?
A bonus thought I’m noodling on: can this definition of “team” extend to partnerships and families, and if so, to what extent is my family actually a team? 🤔
📚 Today’s Read
Something’s Broken in Product — and It’s Not the Tech
Product Manager Camila Barreto talks about her broken team dynamics and the initiatives she put in place to resolve them. Don’t let the article title fool you — this is relevant even if you don’t work in product or tech. Click here to read more. »
See you in two weeks!
xo,
Anne