Even though you get along, your team might still be toxic
Do the lines “drinking the Kool-Aid,” “breathing your own fumes,” or “blowing sunshine” hit a little too close to home for you? You could be on a Bobble-Head team.
There are way too many teams in organizations today where conflict, gossip, and backstabbing make it nearly impossible to get things done. I am still shocked to hear some of the nasty, underhanded things that supposed adults are doing and saying to one another.
I get it if you want to enjoy the odd easy, harmonious meeting where people go with the flow. But let’s not go crazy people. Some teams take harmony too far and start to lose the purpose of being a team in the first place. Toxic positivity is a real issue and you can’t have psychological safety if it’s not okay to express ideas and perspectives that are different from your teammates.
A team is the most basic structure in an organization and a critical tool for bringing together diverse talents and perspectives to get things done. If people on your team have started to think too much alike, you aren’t adding as much value as you need to be.
Avoiding groupthink in the workplace
Take this quiz. Share it with your teammates. If you’re checking off a few items at the top, start to pay more attention to a healthy debate. If you’re recognizing your team in the items at the bottom, you’ve got a problem and it’s time to get help.
⬜ We spend significantly more time together than with others outside
⬜ We tend to embrace ideas enthusiastically
⬜ Our decision-making process is focused and quick
⬜ We downplay the importance of negative or disconfirming information
⬜ We defer to the team leader, even when we might disagree
⬜ We have a track record of over-promising and under-delivering
⬜ We actively exclude information that contradicts our point of view
⬜ Our consensus leads us to riskier and riskier decisions
⬜ We criticize and shut out other teams who don’t go along with our plans
⬜ There have been significant consequences of our poor decision making
Further Reading
Be a More Effective Devil’s Advocate
Are you Working with a Toxic Team?
Trust Can’t Come at the Expense of Diversity