Team Trust Is Built in Moments Most People Miss
Challenging Moments Pull Us Closer Together
Yesterday at basketball practice (I take adult classes), I found myself experiencing some frustration with my team. More specifically, with one particular teammate.
This individual approached me with a suggestion: "We should create more plays for Tim" - referencing one of the best players in our class. My immediate reaction was somewhere between disbelief and irritation. A "what's wrong with you?" moment.
Why? Because the suggestion completely missed the purpose of what we were doing. This isn't a competitive league where winning is everything - it's a learning environment. The entire point is to develop our offense and shooting skills as a team.
Context Matters
In basketball, there are certainly times when developing plays for a specific person makes sense. But when you have a well-designed offense that moves the ball effectively, the philosophy changes. The idea becomes about creating multiple opportunities where you likely won't know who the open shooter will be until the play develops.
What's more, our class doesn't even keep score! So my reaction was probably justified in this context. Had we been playing at the park or in a competitive league, his suggestion might have been perfectly reasonable.
Digging Deeper
But this interaction got me thinking more deeply about my reaction. I realized this particular teammate had been irritating me for a while, so I asked myself why.
The answer came quickly when I recalled being positioned behind him during our warm-up shooting drills. I observed how he:
Ignored the coach's instructions
Did whatever he wanted instead of following the drill
Dawdled and moved slowly through exercises
Generally displayed the traits of someone unwilling to put in the work to improve
Now I had a clearer picture of the whole scenario. I didn't trust this person, and I certainly didn't trust his intentions. But in the moment, I only reacted to the specific suggestion, which in isolation, might have been reasonable in a different context.
The Core of Team Dynamics
This experience illuminates a fundamental aspect of team dynamics: trust. All those small behaviors and interactions gradually shape our judgments (right or wrong) about the people we work with.
Think about your workplace. You probably recognize some of these archetypes:
The colleague who always speaks up without knowing all the details
The team member who never shares their ideas or perspective
The person who consistently brings negativity or complaints to every interaction
We create mental shortcuts about these people, usually based on very limited information, and those definitions influence our collaboration moving forward. Often, these snap judgments become self-reinforcing cycles that can be difficult to break.
Creating Space for Trust
This is where our LEGO Serious Play team building methodology shows its power. The key to creating more trust and respect lies in revealing the greater dimensions of people.
When team members share more about themselves - what they're proud of, what they value, what they admire - we develop a fuller picture of who they truly are, usually in a more positive light. We discover they have families, enjoy sports, play music, or pursue interesting hobbies.
These revelations mellow out any negative definitions we've created and open space for better collaboration. Why? Because the fuller the picture we have of someone, the more patience we tend to have with them. We see them more like ourselves - complex, multidimensional, and fundamentally human.
Building Better Teams Through Better Understanding
The basketball scenario taught me an important lesson that applies to all teams. Our quick judgments, while natural, can create invisible barriers to effective teamwork. The antidote isn't simply to "trust more" - it's to create structured opportunities to see beyond our limited perceptions of others.
When teams take the time to build this foundation of understanding, the results can be transformative. Communication improves, conflict becomes more constructive, and collaboration deepens.
Whether on the basketball court or in the boardroom, the teams that excel are often those where members truly see and appreciate the full dimensions of each other.
Curious about how these principles might transform your team dynamics? I'd be happy to show you how LEGO Serious Play can create breakthrough moments of connection and understanding.
We have facilitators in New York City, San Francisco, Austin, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, San Diego, and more! Contact us for more information and session options.
