109- 3 Lessons on High-Performing Teams from ted talks

17 April 2023

Description 13 Lessons on High-Performing Teams from ted talks
 
Here are three lessons on high-performing teams from TED Talks:
1 Psychological safety is crucial for team success: In her TED Talk "The Power of Vulnerability," researcher Brené Brown emphasizes the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment in teams. When team members feel safe to take risks, be vulnerable, and speak up without fear of negative consequences, they are more likely to engage in constructive conflict, collaborate effectively, and innovate.

2 Diversity leads to better decision-making: In her TED Talk "Dare to Disagree," Margaret Heffernan argues that diverse teams, composed of people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, are better equipped to make good decisions. When team members are encouraged to challenge each other's assumptions, share their diverse viewpoints, and engage in healthy debate, they can arrive at more creative, robust, and inclusive solutions.

3 Communication and feedback are essential for team growth: In his TED Talk "The Skill of Self-Confidence," psychologist Dr. Ivan Joseph emphasizes the importance of effective communication and feedback in building high-performing teams. By giving and receiving feedback in a constructive and respectful manner, team members can learn from each other, identify areas for improvement, and build stronger relationships based on trust and mutual respect.
 
In a TED talk, the speaker poses a scenario where one is given 20 uncooked spaghetti sticks, 1 yard of masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow, and asked to build a tower with the marshmallow on top. Surprisingly, this exercise provides valuable insights into creating high-performing teams. The speaker shares three important lessons that can be learned from this activity.
 

 
Once the timer started, most teams followed a similar process:
4 They spent time discussing the task and identifying leaders.
5 They planned the most effective approach to completing the task.
6 They devoted most of their time to building the tower.
7 They hoped that the tower would hold up when the marshmallow was placed on top.
While some teams succeeded in building a tower that held the marshmallow, others failed. And among the successful teams, some were able to achieve even greater heights than others. The question is, what distinguished the high-performing teams from those that were less successful?
 
 
To achieve wildly successful results in the marshmallow tower challenge, three factors were observed to be common among the teams:
8 They adopted an iterative approach by testing and modifying their build as they progressed rather than sticking to a single plan.
9 They had diverse skill sets within the group, with a mix of personalities and abilities contributing to a more effective team. Surprisingly, groups comprising CEOs and executive admins performed better than those with only CEOs.
10  They had prior experience with the task. After four months, the worst-performing teams were given the challenge again and were successful, surpassing previous records. Their past failure allowed them to learn and improve, resulting in success in the second round.
 
 
Here's a suggestion: As you are already forming a high-performing team in your workplace, why not try out the marshmallow experiment with your co-workers? It could be a fun activity to observe team dynamics. Alternatively, you could watch the brief TED Talk on creating high-performing teams below. It's less than seven minutes long but packed with insights on building a successful team! Do you believe there are other crucial elements that contribute to building a high-performance team? Feel free to share them with us in the comments section!
 
 

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