1️⃣ Agree on what success looks like Brown’s Ed Barrows argues that a team should turn a broad brief into concrete deliverables, then let members test and shape the picture of success before execution.
💡 Why it matters A shared outcome gives people a basis for trading off speed, quality and scope when the work gets messy.
☕ Coffee talk If everyone has a different finish line, which one is the team actually chasing?
2️⃣ An overloaded team needs a real priority call A September HBR case follows a chief counsel whose team hit capacity after three acquisitions. He absorbed the overflow and lost nights, weekends and time for strategy.
💡 Why it matters A leader quietly taking on the excess hides the capacity gap. Someone still has to decide what gets delayed or dropped.
☕ Coffee talk If the only spare capacity is your evenings, who is making the trade-off?
3️⃣ Keep the politics out of the recommendation In an experiment with 216 supply-chain managers, the same supplier proposal drew less support when its author added a partisan comment. Even participants who agreed with the comment rated the manager less favourably.
💡 Why it matters Political decisions affect costs and operations. Teams need the business case in view, not a shortcut judgement about the person presenting it.
☕ Coffee talk On the next tariff decision, will the room debate the numbers or the person holding the marker?