A Team Can Share Purpose Without Sharing a Personality

A recent HBR IdeaCast episode, published October 13, features organizational psychologist Adam Grant arguing that strong teams need shared purpose and productive disagreement—not necessarily close friendship. He also describes making informal connection intentional, rather than relying on spontaneous encounters. (hbr.org)

My work-culture reading: purpose is more than a polished sentence. It can be tested against the work people actually do and the people it is meant to serve. A team might ask, “Who would be worse off if this work disappeared?”—then check whether its daily priorities reflect the answer. That keeps purpose from becoming a slogan, while leaving room for colleagues to contribute in different ways.

What shared-purpose question would help your team make its work more concrete?