Dream Teams summary

Have you ever wondered how it is that couples who argue all the time somehow stay together for years? Well, according to experts at the Gottman Institute, a research center that examines couples' relationships, frequent arguments aren't actually an indicator of long-term problems. What’s much worse is when partners stop talking to one another.

Conflict is a sign that people are prepared to find a solution. On the other hand, silence can lead to serious issues if problems are left unresolved. The same is true of companies. Organizational silence can result in problems down the line. Let’s look at an example in the auto industry.

The Wright brothers’ strategy for achieving harmony worked well for them, but it’s not easily scaled up to groups with more deep-seated animosities.

For instance, at the turn of the twentieth century, many of the different communities in Buenos Aires were at loggerheads. Neighborhoods were never going to switch perspectives en masse like the Wright brothers did. But here’s something that did work: soccer!

It has become fairly common in business circles to quote the adage, "Don’t change a winning team.”

On the surface it may make a lot of sense, but teams that have achieved success in the past often get stuck in their ways.

One particularly dismal March, the author headed to the Tretyakov Gallery to look at a groundbreaking painting. But he was left cold when he stood before it.

The picture in question was Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square. It was painted at the start of the twentieth century, and it’s quite literally a small square canvas painted black. But the true significance of this painting lies in the story behind it.

When you think about it, the Communist authoritarian Soviet Union was an unusual ally for the capitalist democracies of the West during the Second World War. But when faced with the existential threat of Hitler’s forces, they put aside their differences and put their minds to the task at hand.

There’s a broader lesson in this. Superordinate goals unite people from different backgrounds who have quite different ideas.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the famed civil rights activist Malcolm X was a controversial figure, to put it bluntly. Not only was he a member of the radical Nation of Islam, but his bad experiences with white people in America in his younger years also led him to a radical conclusion. For him, integration was an impossible goal, and so he advocated that black and white communities should be kept separate.

This story encapsulates what years of research have shown. Namely, many of our opinions are the result of our brains interpolating belief based on our previous experiences.

So far we’ve seen how intellectual humility, lively discussions, regulated dissent and common goals all help in creating a dream team. But there’s more that can be done.

When team members hear colleagues’ life stories, it elicits empathy. Teams therefore improve as members better understand one another.