Successful teams do two things well
Octahedron brings this research to life
They speak up
Teams with high psychological safety speak freely without fear of being punished for speaking up. Team members openly disagree in an intellectual and productive manner.
They think differently
Teams whose members approach the same problem from different perspectives are cognitively diverse. Their multiple viewpoints help account for blindspots in decision-making.
Show me an organization where people are afraid to speak up, afraid to challenge dominant ideas lest they be destroyed socially, and I’ll show you an organization that has become structurally stupid, unmoored from reality, and unable to achieve its mission.
In part because individual judgement is not accurate enough or consistent enough, cognitive diversity is essential to good decision making.
Four Dimensions
The Octahedron methodology focuses on 4 dimensions to accelerate team success.
Receptive
How your team receives feedback, if they are open to different ideas, and how they look to their colleagues for suggestions.
Varying
How your team changes as a way to increase their impact on the overall organization.
Supportive
How your team promotes their colleagues ideas, assists with their goals, and works towards collaboration.
Productive
How effective your team is in achieving the goals set forth from the organization and/or external milestones.
Unique behaviors
Successful teams exhibit certain characteristics.
Some behaviors Octahedron captures to pinpoint improvement areas:
Receptive
- Submissive
- Micromanaging
- ...and more
Supportive
- Opposing
- Defensive
- ...and more
Varying
- Authoritative
- Rigid
- ...and more
Productive
- Apathetic
- Disagreeable
- ...and more
Resources
Learn more about research and articles that inspire the Octahedron methodology.
How to Debate Ideas Productively at Work
Cognitive diversity makes a group smarter. To make it work, your team has to disagree sometimes.
View article
Trust vs Performance
We are hardwired to protect ourselves. We avoid danger and seek out places in which we feel safe.
Watch video
The Wisdom of Crowds
Large groups of people are better at solving problems than an elite few, no matter how brilliant.
View book
What Psychological Safety Looks Like in a Hybrid Workplace
Sorting out hybrid work arrangements will require managers to rethink and expand one of strongest proven predictors of team effectiveness: psychological safety.
View article
The Fearless Organization
Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth.
View book
Teams Solve Problems Faster When They’re More Cognitively Diverse
Higher cognitive diversity correlates with better performance.
Watch video