We strive for a culture that rewards accuracy, not speed. That’s why safety takes priority over productivity. Getting it right before doing it quickly demonstrates a commitment to excellence, not just economics. We create and capture value by solving complex technical, logistical, and budgetary challenges with good teams. Those teams are composed of talented individuals who are comfortable sharing different ideas and perspectives within a culture of communication, respect, and accountability. Our success is the result of excellent teamwork.
So what makes a good team?
The best teams I’ve been a part of over the years thrive on curiosity. Maintaining that culture takes work because it requires individuals to overcome our natural tendency to be selfish. That’s not intended as a critique. It’s a statement of reality.
Author David Foster Wallace explains it like this: “The world as you experience it is there in front of you, or behind you, to the left or right of you, on your TV, or your monitor… Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own thoughts are so immediate, urgent, real.”
I think I’m at the relative center of the universe because I’m the center of my universe. Wherever I go, there I am. I can’t escape me. So any communication from others must scale the barrier of my Self.
A question I’m often asked by people early in their careers is, “What advice do you have for being successful?” My answers are simple. Get curious. Don’t try to prove you have all the answers. Be interested in others. Move beyond your Self to build trust with others.
It’s in my power to lower the barrier of my Self so I can build a better team. Simple awareness of my default setting allows me to challenge it. When a car cuts me off on the highway, I need to recognize it’s not personal. The driver wasn’t thinking about me, doesn’t care who I am or what I’m doing with my life. However, I need to overcome my knee-jerk reaction that the driver planned to disrupt me, which is just illogical. It’s my personal responsibility to control my emotions, reactions, and actions. In fact, those are the only things I can control.
Overcoming ego can be liberating—and productive. It’s the catalyst for curiosity, which promotes a learning mindset instead of a fixed mindset. On high-performing teams, the give-and-take between learning and teaching is balanced. When that balance is present, Team Members engage with each other in ways that minimize the Self and maximize inquiry.
With a fixed mindset, individuals hold fast to positions and refuse to consider alternatives to existing opinions, even when presented with new evidence. Someone with a learning mindset considers the possibility that another person’s ideas might be better. Curiosity gives us the capacity to cultivate a learning mindset.
The organizations I’ve seen do this well are filled with Team Members who push each other to think differently, ask questions, and metabolize conversations to craft innovative approaches. That’s the difference between a group of talented people and a genuinely high-performing team.
The barrier is the Self. The solution is curiosity. And the result — when individuals commit to it — is a team that creates more than the sum of its parts.