Effective collaboration builds on a foundation of alignment

Effective collaborators share a deep ground truth that empowers them to overcome obstacles that halt unaligned teams. The specific form of that ground truth is unique to each set of collaborators, and absolute alignment is not necessary, but common areas of alignment might include core conceptual frameworks, ethical convictions, spiritual expression, or a mutual sense of urgency. Strong alignment in one or more of these key areas can overcome misalignment in other areas.

Shared mental models allow for efficient communication of complex ideas using shared language and reference points, reducing friction in decision-making, and allowing co-creators to iterate faster and take bigger creative risks.

When collaborators share core principles, they can challenge each other’s ideas more effectively without derailing the creative process because deeply aligned intentions create psychological safety, enabling people to contribute their most vulnerable and original ideas.

This goes some way to explaining what is sometimes termed the unreasonable effectiveness of small teams. It is much easier to establish alignment, a shared truth, in a small team.

Related:

• Dunbar, R. I. M. (1992), Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates90081-J), Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 22, p.469–493
  Introduced Dunbar’s number, the idea of a cognitive limit on the number of stable social relationships that an individual can accommodate.

• The lead designer and two to seven other developers in a large room or adjacent rooms, with information radiators such as whiteboards and flip charts on the wall, having access to key users, distractions kept away, delivering running, tested, usable code every month or two (okay, three at the most), periodically reflecting and adjusting on their working style.
  — Alistair Paul Becker, Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams, 2004