n o ren
Systems & Organizations

Why Some Teams Thrive in Turbulent Environments While Others Stall

Even Google's legendary teams failed due to a single, unexamined bias in their organizational design.

2026-06-061 min read

Google's Project Aristotle, a decade-long study on high-performing teams, surprisingly found that having a "psychologically safe" team environment was the most critical factor in team success. However, researchers later discovered that Google's own teams often prioritized individual talent over team diversity, leading to a bias towards homogenous teams, which stifled innovation and hindered adaptability in times of turbulence. This mistake is common, as professionals often focus on recruiting top talent rather than fostering diverse perspectives within teams. By neglecting team diversity, organizations create fragile systems that struggle to cope with unexpected disruptions. As a result, companies may find themselves stalled and unable to innovate despite investing in top talent. To avoid this common pitfall, professionals must prioritize team diversity and actively work to create an environment that encourages diverse perspectives.

Key insights
Prioritizing team diversity is critical for creating high-performing teams that can adapt to turbulent environments, rather than focusing solely on recruiting top talent.
A psychologically safe team environment is essential for creativity, innovation, and adaptability, but it's often hindered by biases towards homogenous teams.
By neglecting team diversity, organizations create fragile systems that are more susceptible to failure and less able to innovate.
To create a more inclusive environment, professionals must actively work to create space for diverse perspectives and prioritize team diversity over individual talent.
Why it matters

By applying this insight, the reader becomes a more valuable asset to the organization by being able to design and lead teams that thrive in turbulent environments.

This knowledge enables the reader to make more informed decisions about team composition and organizational design, avoiding the pitfall of prioritizing individual talent over team diversity.

The asymmetric advantage of knowing this insight allows the reader to differentiate themselves from peers who may prioritize individual talent over team diversity.

Use this tomorrow
1
In your next 1:1 meeting with a team member, ask them to describe a time when they felt comfortable sharing a different perspective, and discuss how you can create a more inclusive environment.
2
When planning a new project or initiative, evaluate potential team members based on both their individual strengths and their ability to bring diverse perspectives to the team.
3
When a team member suggests an idea that diverges from the norm, listen actively and consider the value of diverse perspectives before dismissing or implementing the idea.
Go deeper

The Google Project Aristotle study was led by psychologist David Rock and Google's former Vice President of People Operations, Aihwa Ong, and was published in 2016. The study involved over 100 teams across Google, with the goal of identifying factors that contributed to team success.

This insight has broader implications for organizational design and can be applied to other areas, such as supply chain management, where a lack of diversity in supplier networks can lead to systemic vulnerabilities.