SPEAK LIKE A CEO 298: Why Your Team Is Underperforming - And How to Fix It. Colin M. Fisher
Aug 28, 2025
Colin M. Fisher, a Harvard-trained management professor and former jazz musician, discusses team performance insights from his book, The Collective Edge. He debunks myths about collaboration, emphasizing that large teams often lead to slower decision-making and confusion. Fisher highlights the difference between genuine trust and superficial team-building tactics. He shares how jazz improvisation can enhance leadership and collaboration. His strategies help revitalize stagnant teams without needing drastic measures like firings, focusing instead on clarity and supportive environments.
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Match Teamwork To Task Complexity
- Teamwork helps for complex, collaborative tasks but adds unnecessary cost for simple, repetitive tasks.
- Use individual work for additive tasks and teams for integrative, creative problems.
Stop Slack Overload With One Clarifying Question
- If you see lots of communication about alignment, pause and clarify shared goals immediately.
- Encourage members to state their understanding and ask, "Is that your understanding?"
Don't Fix Problems By Adding People
- Avoid inflating teams to solve problems; adding members raises relational complexity exponentially.
- Prefer removing or refocusing work rather than piling on people to fix delays.
