Jon Levy | Team Intelligence: How Brilliant Leaders Unlock Collective Genius | Talks at Google

Quick Overview

The greatest predictor of Team Intelligence, according to Google's Project Aristotle research, is not individual IQ or liking each other, but rather the collective presence of psychological safety and equitable conversational turn-taking among team members, which fosters better collaboration and higher performance.

Key Points: The primary predictor of Team Intelligence is high collective psychological safety, allowing team members to feel safe taking risks and being vulnerable in front of each other. Equitable conversational turn-taking, where no single person dominates speaking time, is the second most important factor for team intelligence. Individual metrics like average IQ (Option 1) and the IQ of the smartest member (Option 2) were found to be poor predictors of team success. The study revealed that the number of women on the team (Option 4) was a statistically significant, though secondary, predictor, correlating with higher emotional intelligence scores. The research contrasts with the traditional focus on hiring only 'superstar' individual talents, showing that collective skills and dynamics are more crucial for overall team performance. The interviewer, Brian Glaser, introduced John Levee, a New York Times best-selling author known for work on trust and human connection, who wrote the book 'Team Intelligence'.

Context: This video features a segment from a "Talks at Google" event where host Brian Glaser interviews author John Levee about his research on what drives team effectiveness, specifically focusing on the findings from Google's internal 'Project Aristotle' study. The discussion centers on identifying the key variables that determine a team's collective intelligence and performance, contrasting conventional wisdom with empirical data.

Detailed Analysis

The discussion centers on the key findings from Google's Project Aristotle research regarding team intelligence. The host, Brian Glaser, introduces author John Levee, who wrote a book on the topic. Levee explains that the research surprisingly discounted several common assumptions about team success. Factors like the average IQ of team members (Option 1) and the IQ of the smartest team member (Option 2) showed little predictive power. Similarly, how much team members like each other (Option 3) was not a strong predictor. The study found that the greatest predictor of team intelligence was psychological safety—the feeling that one can take risks without fear of negative consequences. The second most important factor was conversational turn-taking, ensuring participation was equitable across all members. Levee mentions that the number of women on the team (Option 4) was a statistically significant predictor, correlating highly with emotional intelligence scores, suggesting a link between gender diversity in certain contexts and team effectiveness. Levee contrasts this with the traditional, individualistic approach to hiring 'superstars' (like LeBron James or Michael Jordan in sports analogies) and emphasizes that team dynamics, like alignment on goals and psychological safety, are paramount. He further stresses that emotional intelligence, not just raw intellect, is key to interpreting these social cues and ensuring cohesive team function.