The superpower of teams and organizations

- During World War II, the brilliant scientist, Richard Feynman, supervised technicians working on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. For security reasons, the Army didn't want technicians to know the project's purpose. The result? Their productivity was lackluster. The quality of their work disappointing. Feynman asked the head of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer, to let him inform the technicians about the project's purpose. After his request was approved, Feynman explained to the team what they were working on, its importance to the war, and the value of their contribution. Afterward Feynman said he witnessed complete transformation. Technicians worked nights. They didn't need supervising. They didn't need anything. While it took them nine months to do three problems before, they did nine problems in three months. That's nearly 10 times as fast. Connecting the technicians through a shared vision gave them a cognitive advantage, boosted engagement, alignment, and knowledge sharing, making them more innovative and vastly improving their productivity. A group, whether onsite, remote, or hybrid that has a culture with a high degree of connection will experience the same distinct benefits. First, employees have a cognitive advantage. In other words, they think more clearly and they're more creative. As we saw in the Manhattan Project, when you have an analytical problem to solve, feeling connected will help you develop more potential solutions and better analyze each possibility to determine which potential solution is best. The second benefit is higher employee engagement, which means they give their best effort. Helping people feel connected will energize them to perform at their highest level. The third benefit is tighter strategic alignment. People who feel connected align their behaviors with the team's goals so that everybody is pulling in the same direction together. Your team will be more likely to coordinate their efforts so they move together and make better overall progress. The fourth benefit is superior decision-making. People who feel connected are more likely to share information decision-makers need to make the best decisions. When you must solve a complex problem, helping your team feel more connected makes it more likely they will share information so that you make a fully informed decision. The fifth benefit is greater innovation. People who are connected engage in creative conversations that fuel new ways of doing things that improve performance. Finally, cultures with a high degree of connection are more agile and adaptable. When people feel connected, they work together to pursue external opportunities and respond to external threats. That also means they'll cooperate more to quickly seize new business opportunities. Together, these six benefits add up to a powerful performance and competitive advantage. In your work culture, which of the six benefits are present? Which of the six are most important for the success of your team? Take a few moments to write down the six benefits in order of importance. This will help raise your awareness of the benefits so that you'll be more likely to spot them as your team becomes more connected.