Whose Team Are You on?

If you had to build the perfect team, what specific qualities would you look for? High IQ? Creative thinkers? Stellar personalities?

A few years ago, data scientists on Google’s world-famous People Analytics team launched an initiative under the code name Project Aristotle. Have you heard about it? Their mission was to “build the perfect team.” Seems pretty straightforward – if you were going to build a dream team, you’d simply fill it with the highest performing individuals, right?

Using the greatest algorithm technologies and analyzing incredible amounts of data, they sought to create a profile for the perfect performer in the workplace. However, the conclusion challenged everything you might think you know about potential.

They found there is no such thing as a perfect performer. When it comes to potential, individual traits and aptitudes are poor predictors of success on a team.

It isn’t about how smart you are, how many degrees you have, what grades you received, how creative you are or what your personality is like.

Why? Because they’re individual attributes. The study found that if the individuals on the team had 1) A strong awareness of the importance of social connections and dependability, and 2) If the team had cultivated an environment where each person spoke equally and everyone felt safe sharing their ideas, the team hit their highest levels of performance over and over.

In the wise words of Simon Sinek, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.”
Up and Up!