{"id":8099080,"date":"2025-09-15T12:52:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/?post_type=aa_video&p=8099080"},"modified":"2025-09-29T12:31:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:31:57","slug":"agility-in-teams","status":"publish","type":"aa_video","link":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/resources\/videos\/agility-in-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Agility in Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following is an AI summary of the event.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This episode of the Reimagining Agility<\/a> podcast focuses on how real agility shows up in teams. Host Margareth Carneiro interviewed Linda Rising and Paulo Caroli on self-management, empowerment, metrics that matter, psychological safety, and the science behind collective intelligence. The through line was simple and demanding: people first, then process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Themes and Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Self-Management is Real, but Context-Dependent<\/strong>
Rising noted that you can always find \u201cpositive deviance\u201d inside any organization. Start by locating the teams that already collaborate well and learn from their patterns rather than forcing a top-down template.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metrics that Teams Choose Beat Metrics Imposed from Above<\/strong>
Rising criticized externally imposed measurements that lack meaning for the people doing the work. Ask teams what signals help them see progress. Share visibility needs, then co-design a small set of useful, team-owned metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OKRs without Cascading<\/strong>
Caroli argued the common failure mode is cascading organizational OKRs down the hierarchy, which erodes autonomy. Leadership should share intent and critical business signals, then let each team set its own objectives and key results that show outcomes, not output volume. Align through conversation and regular check-ins, not control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychological Safety is the Performance Lever<\/strong>
Drawing on Project Aristotle and Amy Edmondson\u2019s work, Rising emphasized that team effectiveness tracks closely with psychological safety. Practical moves: increase cognitive diversity, watch speaking patterns so all voices contribute, and create explicit learning environments where it is safe to try, err, and adjust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Output Promises to Outcome Learning<\/strong>
Caroli warned against locking teams into feature lists. Set a clear goal and desired result, then run frequent check-ins. If leading indicators are flat, pivot as one team. Pressure decreases when autonomy and goal clarity increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retrospectives that Build Trust<\/strong>
The group highlighted classic retrospective practices that start with human connection, not fault-finding. Begin by building safety and appreciation so the later goal-setting is honest and durable. Avoid \u201cpostmortem\u201d language and timing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collective Intelligence is Measurable and Malleable<\/strong>
Rising cited research from MIT\u2019s Center for Collective Intelligence. Group IQ is predicted less by individual brilliance and more by cognitive diversity, equal opportunity to contribute, and openness. Teams can raise their collective intelligence through habits that increase listening and perspective-taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Simple Practice to Grow Team IQ<\/strong>
Read a book together, preferably fiction. Shared stories strengthen perspective-taking and empathic reasoning, which translates into smarter group problem solving. If fiction is a hard sell, choose narrative-driven business novels with the same effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Find and learn from positive-deviant teams already succeeding in your context.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Co-create a few meaningful metrics with teams. Avoid externally imposed vanity measures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Stop cascading OKRs. Share direction and signals, then let teams write their own outcome-focused OKRs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Build psychological safety deliberately: diversify thinking styles, monitor who speaks, and normalize learning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Replace output promises with outcome goals plus regular check-ins and pivots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Use appreciative, people-first retrospectives to strengthen trust before targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Grow collective intelligence with practices that increase empathy and equal contribution, including shared reading.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This session explored how psychological safety, cognitive diversity, and team-owned outcomes drive true agility, highlighting research and practices that boost collective intelligence and reduce pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8033092,"featured_media":8098771,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[904,883],"tags":[2209],"video_type":[756,755],"video_aud_level":[],"content_source":[],"class_list":["post-8099080","aa_video","type-aa_video","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-mindset","tag-reimagining-agility","video_type-industry_panel","video_type-podcast"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_video\/8099080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_video"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/aa_video"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8033092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8099080"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_video\/8099080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8099659,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aa_video\/8099080\/revisions\/8099659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8098771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8099080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8099080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8099080"},{"taxonomy":"video_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video_type?post=8099080"},{"taxonomy":"video_aud_level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video_aud_level?post=8099080"},{"taxonomy":"content_source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agilealliance.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_source?post=8099080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}