Autonomy in teams requires clarity, not chaos. Successful autonomous teams need defined authority over coordination, transparent processes, and intentional facilitation to empower people whilst maintaining alignment and effectiveness.

Jon Barnes is a facilitator, coach, and co-founder of Pala, and he focuses on helping teams and organisations become more autonomous. His approach spans a spectrum from making hierarchies feel less hierarchical, to helping teams operate fundamentally without line management.

Three reasons to listen

• Create clarity in team structures by defining authority and decision-making processes upfront
• Build psychological safety and engagement through effective facilitation techniques
• Balance empowerment with appropriate holding by learning when to let go and when to provide direction

Episode highlights

• [00:12:22] the two types of waste in teams
• [00:18:10] What does leadership look like away from hierarchy?
• [00:21:44] Self-management in highly-pressurised teams
• [00:25:37] The myth of self-governance
• [00:27:12] Unhelpful self-management patterns
• [00:32:47] Jon's biggest two levers
• [00:35:32] Jon's media recommendation
• [00:36:59] Dan's media recommendation
• [00:41:12] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Jon via LinkedIn
• Humankind, by Rutger Bregman
• Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry – Jon’s media recommendation
• The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley – Dan’s media recommendation
• From the Core, by John Wineland – Pia’s media recommendation
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

There's a scientific basis for understanding optimal team size, including research on connection complexity, social loafing, and performance data that challenges common assumptions about how many people should work together effectively.

In this Q&A episode, Dan and Pia dive into the science and the data, to discover the optimum team size.

Episode highlights

• [00:01:27] Is it OK to have a big team?
• [00:04:15] The Ringelmann effect
• [00:07:22] What's the optimum team size?
• [00:08:18] When is a team a group?
• [00:10:20] What the Squadify data shows

Links

• Ringelmann effect
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note

While AI will dramatically reshape work and careers – potentially displacing entry-level jobs and creating “companies of one” – the true competitive advantage will lie in taking a human-centric approach to AI adoption, where diverse teams maintain creativity, critical thinking and genuine human connection rather than simply automating away people to maximise shareholder returns.

Larry Chao is the founding Chief Strategy and Operations Officer at trustme.ai, a startup building tools for AI governance. He’s also involved with nonprofits like Berkeley Skydeck and the Ethical AI Governance Group, where he helps empower the next generation of innovators to develop AI responsibly.

Sunaina Lobo has been a Chief Human Resources Officer three times over, and is now a strategic advisor to trustme.aiand co-founder of Momentum Global HR, where she does strategic HR consulting with an AI lens.

Three reasons to listen

• Understand the trajectory and implications of AI evolution, and what this means for teams and workflows
• Navigate the human impact of AI adoption in your organisation
• Move beyond AI as a differentiator to focus on human connection and diverse thought as the true sources of organisational strength

Episode highlights

• [00:12:47] The evolution of AI
• [00:16:55] AI and teams
• [00:17:37] Facts emerging from our continued use of AI
• [00:29:01] The case for responsible AI
• [00:32:15] The case against the "company of one"
• [00:41:50] Driving shareholder value while being human-centred
• [00:43:43] Suni's media recommendation
• [00:44:05] Larry's media recommendation
• [00:45:12] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Larry via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sunaina via LinkedIn
• TrustMe.ai
• Suni’s podcast recommendations:
  • Pioneers of AI
  • The AII Daily Brief
• KPop Demon Hunters – Larry’s recommendation
• Humankind, by Rutger Bregman
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note