Leading through uncertainty means accepting complexity rather than fighting it. The most powerful tool for doing so is clarity.

While conventional wisdom suggests focusing on trust-building and communication skills, Squadify data shows that starting with clarity – specifically around shared goals, processes, and measures of success – is what actually transforms groups of individuals into cohesive teams and drives performance.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn to befriend uncertainty and focus on what you can influence
• Discover how to build team cohesion through clarity rather than trust exercises
• Understand how teams work together as the key performance driver

Episode highlights

• [00:02:31] Jamie's question
• [00:03:36] Befriending uncertainty
• [00:05:38] Are you a team, or a TINO?
• [00:08:51] The sixth dysfunction in teams
• [00:11:12] The trigger question for high performance
• [00:13:42] Doubling down on humanity
• [00:16:41] Coming up in 2026

Links

• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

Autonomy in teams requires clarity, not chaos. Successful autonomous teams need defined authority over coordination, transparent processes, and intentional facilitation to empower people whilst maintaining alignment and effectiveness.

Jon Barnes is a facilitator, coach, and co-founder of Pala, and he focuses on helping teams and organisations become more autonomous. His approach spans a spectrum from making hierarchies feel less hierarchical, to helping teams operate fundamentally without line management.

Three reasons to listen

• Create clarity in team structures by defining authority and decision-making processes upfront
• Build psychological safety and engagement through effective facilitation techniques
• Balance empowerment with appropriate holding by learning when to let go and when to provide direction

Episode highlights

• [00:12:22] the two types of waste in teams
• [00:18:10] What does leadership look like away from hierarchy?
• [00:21:44] Self-management in highly-pressurised teams
• [00:25:37] The myth of self-governance
• [00:27:12] Unhelpful self-management patterns
• [00:32:47] Jon's biggest two levers
• [00:35:32] Jon's media recommendation
• [00:36:59] Dan's media recommendation
• [00:41:12] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Jon via LinkedIn
• Humankind, by Rutger Bregman
• Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry – Jon’s media recommendation
• The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley – Dan’s media recommendation
• From the Core, by John Wineland – Pia’s media recommendation
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

There's a scientific basis for understanding optimal team size, including research on connection complexity, social loafing, and performance data that challenges common assumptions about how many people should work together effectively.

In this Q&A episode, Dan and Pia dive into the science and the data, to discover the optimum team size.

Episode highlights

• [00:01:27] Is it OK to have a big team?
• [00:04:15] The Ringelmann effect
• [00:07:22] What's the optimum team size?
• [00:08:18] When is a team a group?
• [00:10:20] What the Squadify data shows

Links

• Ringelmann effect
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note