Every time I’m working with a team, whenever I witness a reallllly low moment, someone always asks me: “Are we the most f*cked up team you’ve worked with?”

It’s a valid question. When you’re in the weeds of team dysfunction, it can feel like nobody else could possibly be as messed up as you.

But the real, honest truth is that all teams are a little f*cked up. We just don’t see it.

I have a bit of an obsession with memoirs right now, especially ones that pull back the curtain on messy, complicated dynamics. Our world is one of highlight reels, so it’s rare that people share their low moments. But memoirs break the fantasy that everyone has it all together.

There’s a comfort in seeing others wrestle with challenges. It makes us feel less messed up, less alone, and more capable of conquering our own mountains.

While tearing through my latest memoir, I had a realization. Teams That Meet The Moment is basically a memoir for teams.

It exposes the real mess that happens in every team. Even yours. And not because your team is bad, but because the act of working in a team is hard.

Getting a group of people to organize, take action, and learn effectively is hard. Getting them to do it in a fast-paced, uncertain world? Even harder.

A book like TTMTM is both a practical improvement guide and a relatable, validating reading experience. When you learn about how the team at Bayer conquered a radical org transformation, or the team at PepsiCo found their best meeting cadence, you start to feel like your troubles are both normal AND manageable.

Now, with all this talk of dysfunctional teams, you might be wondering if your team is actually the most messed up.

It’s an understandable worry. But the truly messed-up teams? They aren’t even asking that question, because they don’t think they’re doing anything wrong.

As I said earlier, everyone is a little messed up in their own unique way.

Currently, I'm working with one team where everyone is SO nice that every action gets watered down to please the masses. Another team’s competitive nature makes it so there’s no room for failure. And yet another team is so bloated that every meeting is ineffective.

Almost every team has something to improve upon. But I’ve yet to meet a team who is a lost cause.

If you take one thing away from this newsletter, or the book, let it be this: Working together is hard, but every team is capable of finding their way and crafting their own story, mess and all.

Karina Mangu-Ward

Partner, August Public

P.S. If you want to find out what type of messy your team is, take our assessment! You’ll find out your strengths, your areas for growth, and the practices that can help you get there. Scroll down for more info, or click the button to take the test now.

Want to find out if your team meets the moment? Take our free 2-minute assessment based on the research-backed practices from our book.

Learn your team’s archetype—Choreographers, Flywheel, Launchpad, Spark, Greenhouse, or Think Thank—and uncover insights on where you’re strong, where you’re stuck, and the one or two practices that will make the biggest difference.

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