What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team

what ive learned

In Silicon Valley, software engineers are encouraged to work together, in part because studies show that groups tend to innovate faster, see mistakes more quickly and find better solutions to problems.
Studies also show that people working in teams tend to achieve better results and report higher job satisfaction.
Five years ago, Google — one of the most public proselytizers of how studying workers can transform productivity — became focused on building the perfect team.
In the last decade, the tech giant has spent untold millions of dollars measuring nearly every aspect of its employees’ lives. Google’s People Operations department has scrutinized everything from how frequently particular people eat together
Some groups that were ranked among Google’s most effective teams, for instance, were composed of friends who socialized outside work.
Norms are the traditions, behavioral standards and unwritten rules that govern how we function when we gather: One team may come to a consensus that avoiding disagreement is more valuable than debate; another team might develop a culture that encourages vigorous arguments and spurns groupthink.
After looking at over a hundred groups for more than a year, Project Aristotle researchers concluded that understanding and influencing group norms were the keys to improving Google’s teams.