“We need to put aside our selfish impulses and wants and subsume those for helping make our colleagues successful and ultimately the team successful.”

Mark and Andrew are joined by Dave Winsborough, an organisational psychologist, entrepreneur and author. We explore the differences between teams and groups, the challenges of artificial team stimulation, the importance of psychological safety, the power of rituals in teams, and the role of personality in team dynamics. We also discuss the misuse of personality tests and the value of team reflection.

This episode highlights the complexities and nuances of teamwork and provides insights for individuals and leaders looking to enhance team performance.

Pass it on resources
In this episode the following resources were mentioned, or recommended by Dave:

• Dave Winsborough: Fusion: the psychology of teams
• Deeper Signals: https://www.deepersignals.com/
• Douglas Hofstadter: Godel, Escher, Bach
• Michael Tomasello: Why we cooperate
• Ron Carucci: How leaders fake psychological safety
• Suzanne Bell: Team Composition and the ABCs of Teamwork

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:26 The Misconception of Teams in Organizations
03:55 Team Zeitgeist in Modern Organizations
06:08 The Organic Formation of Effective Teams
07:08 Shared Intentions and Team Dynamics
08:07 The Misinterpretation of Sports Teams in Business
10:18 Implementing Shared Intentions in Team Management
12:23 Psychological Safety and Team Communication
17:48 The Role of Team Building Activities
20:21 Critique of Traditional Team Building Approaches
22:32 Effective Team Building and Followership Training
26:56 Personality Traits and Team Composition
33:02 Using Personality Assessments in Teams
35:31 Deeper Signals: A Modern Approach to Team Assessment
37:22 Balancing Personalities in Team Composition
43:45 Self-Reflection and Improvement in Teams
47:51 Optimizing Team Performance Through Personality Insights
52:57 Quick Fire Questions: Best Team Memory and Red Flags
53:28 Resource Recommendations for Teamwork Insights

Thanks for listening!

Music by Tom Farrington