High Performing Teams

The difference between a group of capable individuals and a genuinely high-performing team rarely comes down to talent. It comes down to conditions — the structures, relationships and shared purpose that let a team do its best collective work.

The six conditions

Drawing on three decades of research into leadership teams, high performance is enabled — not guaranteed — by six conditions: a real team, a compelling purpose, the right people, a sound structure, a supportive context, and expert coaching.

Why conditions, not personalities

When teams struggle, the instinct is to look at individuals. But the more powerful lever is almost always the conditions around them. Get the conditions right, and ordinary teams do extraordinary work.

Ask not whether your team is performing well, but whether the conditions are in place for it to perform well at all.

This is the foundation of our work with leadership teams through The Team Doctor® — a structured way to diagnose where the conditions are strong, and where they need attention.