What is a characteristic of a high performing team according to Project Aristotle?

Google's "Project Aristotle" was an extensive internal study to determine the factors of high-performing teams. The research concluded that the single most important dynamic is psychological safety — a shared belief that team members will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. This foundation of safety enables the interpersonal risk-taking necessary for innovation, learning, and problem-solving. It was found to be more critical than any other factor, including individual skills or team structure, and it underpins the other four key dynamics: dependability, structure & clarity, meaning, and impact.

A. Team members are all located in the same office. Project Aristotle's research found that co-location was not a significant predictor of team effectiveness.
B. The team has a strong, hierarchical management structure. A rigid hierarchy can inhibit psychological safety; the study found team norms, not management style, were key.
D. Individual performance is the primary measure of success. The study emphasized collective success and group norms over focusing solely on individual high-performers.

1. Official Vendor Documentation: Rozovsky, J. (2015, November 17). The five keys to a successful Google team. Google re:Work. Retrieved from https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/. This is the primary source from the Google research team, stating, "Psychological safety was far and away the most important of the five dynamics we found."

2. Peer-Reviewed Academic Publication: Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521-535. (See Section 1, Introduction, para. 2). This review discusses the growing importance of psychological safety, highlighting Google's Project Aristotle as a key real-world study demonstrating its impact on team performance. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001

3. University Publication: Deloitte, & Amy C. Edmondson. (2023). The role of psychological safety in leadership and team development. MIT Sloan Management Review. This article from an MIT publication discusses the concept pioneered by Edmondson and validated by studies like Project Aristotle, emphasizing its role in creating high-performance environments.