Reading Assignment 15

Why This Matters

It is easy to see why we were asked to read the article about the efforts by Google & Project Aristotle. Being in technology brings some really talented and diverse populations together. However just because everyone on a team has talent with high intelligence doesn’t mean it will get the most work done or be the most efficient.

Summary

In my experience, empathy matters. Too many times unsaid communications can be just as hurtful as verbal communications. Being able for people to say things without worrying about retribution or taking the time to listen to someone’s thoughts on a subject takes a great deal of skill and like all things, practice.

In the article, much time, effort, and resources was spent putting together a study called Project Aristotle to research the many teams that handle projects at Google and in essence, find out what makes them tick. Through all the surveys, number crunching, and interviews, the project determined it was psychological safety that made the good teams good and the not-so-good teams okay or bad. Psychological safety pointed to standards that are vital to a team’s success and critical to making a team work. Having a safe place to work sounds easy, but it is very difficult to happen. Telling people to take turns having a conversation, or everyone gets to have an equal say and to listen to one another is much easier said than done.

For myself teams I have worked on that I not only enjoyed but saw the highest amount of effectiveness came down to psychological safety. A place where everyone not only respected each other, but encouraged each other to gain their opinion and know they are appreciated. Having that “safe place” is something that I think a lot of employers say they have but if you asked many employees from those same places would say they don’t feel the same way. It is so difficult to make that kind of place happen because if it is a large team across many parts of an organization, gaining buy-in can be difficult. There also has to be reciprocity where everyone sees the benefit. For me that is the key.

Sources Utilized

What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team