It seems like everyone has high-performance teams on their mind. Just this morning, I had a great conversation with a young army veteran who had led teams. He said he experienced some incredibly bad teams during his stint in the army. The teams were toxic. They were run by bullying and negativity. His team leaders complained about everything that was the slightest bit wrong. They complained about the army in general, never pointing out anything that was working well for them. They bullied and belittled, barked orders, berated, shamed and embarrassed their people.
I use the term positive bias to describe the mindset and behaviors this young leader modeled for his teams. Positive bias is the foundation of high-performance teams. A client company that I’m coaching uses the phrase “assume positive intent” to guide people’s interactions with each other. It’s the foundation of this company’s culture. With positive bias as their foundation, thousands of coworkers support each other and create awesome software together. If positive bias is the only thing you practice together as a team, you’ll be better off.
What is the best team you’ve ever been a member of? What are some examples of positive bias in your best team?
