The Secret Sauce of Great Teams: Emulsification
Create Flow Instead of Friction
I love a good hollandaise sauce, especially on eggs benedict. But here's the thing about hollandaise - it's essentially a magic trick. You're taking two liquids that absolutely refuse to mix (egg yolks and butter) and somehow turning them into silky, delicious perfection. The secret? An emulsifier - in this case, lemon juice - that allows these opposing ingredients to form a stable, unified whole.
This is a fantastic mental model for understanding teams. How many of us have worked with people who are like oil and water? Team members who just don't naturally mix, creating friction rather than flow? Well, just like our hollandaise, we just need to find the right emulsifier!
Through our work with teams, we've discovered that effective team emulsification happens in layers, each one strengthening the bonds between team members:
Trust and Respect - Your base emulsifier. Without these, nothing else sticks.
Understanding Work Styles - Knowing how each "ingredient" in your team operates and contributes.
Unified Vision - Getting everyone moving in the same direction.
Team Identity and Norms - Creating shared agreements about how you'll work together.
Systems Awareness - Understanding how your team fits into and influences the bigger picture.
Each layer strengthens the bonds, making your team emulsion tighter and more stable. (Nobody wants a broken hollandaise, and nobody wants a broken team!)
The beauty of strong team emulsification is that it creates resilience. Just like a properly emulsified sauce can resist breaking under heat:
The tighter the bonds, the more resistant your team becomes to outside stressors
The stronger the connections, the more your group moves as a unified team rather than a collection of individuals
In essence, these elements create an emulsifier that reduces friction and allows for strong connections, turning separate individuals into a smooth, high-performing team.
What's your team's emulsifier? What keeps your group bonded and moving in sync?
Need help "emulsifying" your team? We've got some special ingredients that can help build stronger connections and create that smooth, unified team you're looking for.
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 session options.
