Identifying systemic incentives to improve team output

Pat Kua advises managers to look past individual performance issues to the underlying system, noting that team members often fail to complete tasks because organizational processes prioritize other work on the team board (Pat Kua). When engineers feel they must choose between disappointing a product manager or an engineering manager, they often default to the path that avoids team friction. Instead of labeling employees as stubborn, managers should audit the rewards, rules, and team norms that influence behavior. This systemic view allows leaders to adjust incentives, making the desired work easier to accomplish rather than relying on individual pressure.

• Evan Campbell argues that strategy decays without active maintenance, requiring leaders to reinforce intent and make explicit trade-offs about what not to do (Jason Knight from One Knight in Product newsletter).
• Miranda suggests that design leaders should identify team enthusiasts for new AI tools and create brownbag sessions to share their experiments with the rest of the team (Strategic Studio).
• Stefan Wolpers recommends that teams grade the evidence of AI impact using a break-even test and a re-classification log to determine which workflows to keep or retire (Hands-on Agile by Stefan Wolpers AI…).
• Vibhor Chandel advises new team leads to spend their first two weeks observing standups and planning processes before implementing any changes to the existing team structure (Vibhor Chandel from Winning Strategy).