Individualism is rising, making teamwork harder and increasing the presence of narcissistic, Machiavellian or self-focused colleagues. The paper shows that we can’t change these personalities, but we can manage them through the Fast Teaming® sequence: creating clear goals and roles (Get Set), building psychological safety (Get Safe), holding them accountable with evidence-based feedback (Get Strong), and experimenting together until collaboration improves — or until it’s healthier to let them go.

Jack and Jill’s relationship broke down through a cycle of mistrust: she felt rejected and anxious, he became increasingly unimpressed and disengaged. Their conflict stemmed from unclear expectations of goals and roles, which eroded cognitive trust. Once they aligned on these — Get Set — they could build psychological safety by sharing vulnerabilities and creating empathy. This allowed them to influence each other constructively (Get Strong) and ultimately collaborate, adapt and deliver their shared goals (Get Success). The paper shows how many conflicts originate in misalignment, and how the Fast Teaming Formula™ provides a sequence to repair relationships.

‘Effective teams eat culture for lunch.’ Many organisations now seek a universal “high-performing culture,” defined by accountability, creativity, collaboration, integrity, respect, adaptability and resilience — the very same values found in high performing teams. By enabling teams to work exceptionally well together, the cultures we desire are far more quickly realised.