Why Most Teams Struggle: How Trust, Safety and Cohesion Change Everything
The high performing team has almost become a cliché. Semi-mythical, elusive and so often seemingly just out of reach. That thing we strive for but never quite manage to get to, a kind of ‘golden fleece’ of performance and delivery. When you’re in one, you know it and you can feel it; when you’re not, everything is just that much harder.
But what factors really contribute to exceptional team performance?
It’s a decade since I was first in what I’d describe as a truly ‘high performing team’ - which is not to say the rest has been a series of underperforming teams, but I can pinpoint a particular time when I really felt that buzz, and where we became a group of individuals that were more than the sum of our parts, and as a consequence became highly successful and effective as a unit.
When you look at it, you might describe the organisational success factors in the following way:
You know your responsibilities and were good at what we did
You deliver value to the organisation in support of its goals
You learn as you go and adapt to changing needs
But when we first got together as 6 individuals who didn't really know each other or what were capable of, let alone understand the task at hand, we are clearly not yet a team but a collection of people. So what are (and were) the bricks in the foundations that form a solid platform for the team to naturally grow and develop qualities over time, the things that tangibly lead to ‘high performance’?
I’m going to focus on the three I believe were (and are still) the bedrock, a ‘trinity‘ for Team Excellence. These were not abstract concepts discussed in meetings, but living, breathing realities that shaped every interaction, breakthrough and decision we made together. They embodied trust, safety and connection, without which I believe the most talented and motivated group of individuals will struggle to become a high performing team.
An illustration of the 3 team dynamic pillars
Trust: The Currency of Speed
Trust was our team's secret rocket fuel. We didn't spend precious time second-guessing each other's motives or double-checking work out of suspicion. Instead, trust became our currency allowing us to move at speed while maintaining high standards.
That trust manifested in tangible ways: we delegated critical tasks without micromanaging, accepted feedback without defensiveness, and admitted mistakes without fear of retribution. When someone said "I've got that," the rest of us genuinely relaxed, knowing it would be done well. This wasn't blind faith but rather was earned confidence built through consistent delivery and mutual respect.
For me personally this meant from the outset that UX design sessions were to become a regular team activity - I valued input from all stakeholders: software engineers, product owners and team leads alike. And I was happy to ‘muck in’ and support the team in more technical tasks even when I needed a little help to get going.
The compound effect was extraordinary. Trust eliminated the friction that slows most teams down. We spent our energy on solving problems rather than navigating interpersonal politics. Decisions that might take other teams weeks of careful consensus-building happened in hours, because we trusted each other's judgement and commitment to our shared goals.
“These were not abstract concepts discussed in meetings, but living, breathing realities that shaped every interaction, breakthrough and decision we made together. ”
Psychological Safety: The Foundation for Innovation
While trust underpins reliability and competence, psychological safety created the conditions for our most creative and breakthrough thinking. But psychological safety can take ‘psychological courage’. The conditions are created by getting to a space where people are comfortable with voicing opinions, thoughts and concerns. This requires humility and the courage to be vulnerable.
But the results are profound, psychological safety (and courage!) meant that the team could
Voice half-formed ideas without judgement
Challenge senior members without consequences
Admit confusion without appearing incompetent - embracing ‘I don’t know’!
The magic happened in those moments when someone said, "This might sound a bit out there, but what if..." Those conversations consistently led to our most innovative solutions.
This in turn wove a team safety net that encouraged intellectual risk-taking. We experimented boldly because failure was treated as a learning experience, not judgment or a measure of competency. Team members brought their whole selves to work, including their doubts and concerns, their wild ideas, and their unique perspectives. The cognitive diversity this created was one of our big competitive advantages.
Social Cohesion: The Human Glue
Beyond professional trust and psychological safety lay something more fundamental - genuine empathy and understanding for each other as people. This social cohesion transformed us from a group of individuals sharing a workspace into something resembling a chosen family working toward common goals.
We celebrated each other's wins outside of work, supported each other through personal challenges, and developed (many!) inside jokes that made even difficult days more bearable. This wasn't forced team-building as it emerged naturally from spending time together and choosing to invest in relationships beyond the transactional.
The practical benefits were immense. When disagreements arose (and oh yeah, they did!), we had enough goodwill built up over time to navigate them constructively. We gave each other the benefit of the doubt during stressful periods, and most importantly, we fought for the team's success with intensity.
These three elements didn't exist in isolation they reinforced each other in powerful ways. Trust made psychological safety possible; when you trust your teammates' intentions, it's easier to be vulnerable. Psychological safety, in turn, strengthened trust by allowing authentic communication. Social cohesion provided the emotional foundation that made both trust and safety feel natural rather than forced.
Together, they created what psychologists call a ‘positive spiral’ where each element strengthens the others, creating an upward cycle of performance and satisfaction. This is what separated our high-performing team from merely functional ones: we didn't just work well together, we brought out the very best in each other.
Understanding these dynamics intellectually is one thing. Creating them intentionally in struggling teams is quite another—which is precisely where methodologies like LEGO® Serious Play® prove their worth.
Building the Trinity Intentionally: The LEGO® Serious Play® Advantage
LEGO® Serious Play® in action
If I were asked today how to cultivate this vital trinity in a new or struggling team, I wouldn't hesitate: I'd use LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP). This isn't because it's trendy or novel, but because it's uniquely designed to address the exact barriers that prevent these dynamics from emerging naturally.
LEGO® Serious Play® works because it creates a level playing field from the very first session. When everyone - from the most senior person to the newest hire - sits down with the same pile of bricks, traditional hierarchies temporarily dissolve. The physical act of building with your hands activates different thinking patterns and bypasses the usual verbal jousting that can dominate team discussions. Suddenly, that ever elusive psychological safety isn't something you have to earn through careful political navigation, it's baked into the methodology itself. The courage comes from telling your story to others, and them listening with intention and respect.
The process builds trust incrementally through shared vulnerability. When you're asked to build a metaphor for your biggest professional fear or your vision of team success, and then explain your creation to colleagues, you're being authentically yourself in a structured and safe way. Each person's story, told through their unique brick construction, reveals perspectives that rarely surface in conventional meetings. This mutual revelation creates understanding, and understanding breeds trust.
Social cohesion emerges almost inevitably as team members discover unexpected connections and insights about each other. The playful nature of the medium - adults playing with LEGO® bricks - naturally breaks down pretence and formality. People laugh, share stories, and see each other's creativity in action. These aren't forced team-building exercises that feel artificial; they're genuine moments of human connection that arise from collaborative problem-solving.
Most powerfully, LEGO® Serious Play® doesn't just create these conditions temporarily, it teaches teams how to recreate them. The skills of listening deeply, building on others' ideas, and expressing complex thoughts through metaphor become part of the team's ongoing toolkit - just the way they start to do things naturally. The trust, safety and connection forged in those initial sessions become the foundation for everything that follows.
In essence, what I have experienced first hand is that LEGO® Serious Play® provides the scaffolding that allows that trinity of team dynamics to take root and flourish - turning what might otherwise take weeks or months to develop organically, into something that can be established in days.
High-performing teams aren’t built by chance, they’re built with intention.
Let’s start with a hands-on taster session. You’ll see how quickly your team can move from individuals to a connected, high-trust unit.
Further reading:
Team coaching using LSP and team facilitation: a randomized control trial study measuring team cohesion and psychological safety
Upward Spirals of Positive Emotions Counter Downward Spirals of Negativity:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2908186/
How small changes can help you build an upward spiral