Project Aristotle and psychological safety
Google studied 180+ teams to find what makes some teams effective and others not. The answer wasn't who was on the team — it was how they worked together.
What Google found
Project Aristotle was a multi-year research project at Google that studied over 180 teams. The researchers expected to find that the best teams had the best people. Instead, they found that team dynamics mattered far more than individual talent.
"Who is on a team matters less than how the team members interact, structure their work, and view their contributions."
— Google re:Work, Project Aristotle findings
The five dynamics of effective teams
Ranked by importance, with psychological safety at the top.
Psychological safety
The most important factor. Team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other.
Dependability
Team members get things done on time and meet the team's expectations.
Structure and clarity
Team members have clear roles, plans, and goals.
Meaning
Work is personally important to team members.
Impact
Team members think their work matters and creates change.
Why this matters for your team
The research is clear: teams improve when they can see how they work together and take action on what they find. But most organisations stop at measurement.
- Awareness without action doesn't create change
- Teams need shared signals they can see together
- Improvement requires guided actions, not just training
- Progress must be visible through re-measurement
Framework origin: Duena Blomstrom · Research archive: Writings