By: Tim Cynova // Published: March 25, 2025
Do you tend to be more of a Starter or a Finisher? Risk-Averse or Risk-Tolerant? And how about your coworkers?
When thinking about team design, it’s common – and important – to focus on the knowledge, skills, and experience each person brings to their role. But no role exists in isolation. Every position interacts and collaborates with others to achieve shared goals.
As Christina Wodtke writes in Radical Focus, “Design your team or accept what shows up. If you don’t design, you default.” Understanding and intentionally adapting for individual operating defaults can be the difference between a high-performing team and one that never quite clicks – or worse, one that implodes spectacularly.
Years ago, I took a road trip with my college roommate (now a Grammy-nominated conductor). He spent nearly 15 minutes tuning the old car stereo, obsessing over the snare drum’s crispness without throwing off the treble-bass balance. Just when he got it “perfect,” the song ended and the next track came on… and started the whole process over again. So went our entire drive across Ohio.
I often think of team design the same way – a bit like being a sound engineer at a mixing board. You don’t just “set the levels” once and call it a day. You constantly adjust: the background vocals are too low, the bass is overpowering, the snare’s too dull. Team dynamics are no different.
Team design is fluid.
You can’t “set it and forget it.” It depends on who’s in the room, what you’re trying to achieve, what resources you have, and the external conditions shaping your work. Crucially, it depends on the operating defaults of the individuals on your team and how those tendencies interact.
The challenge? Most teams don’t have the shared language or tools to name how people show up at work, or why those natural defaults sometimes spark friction. That’s why I created WorkStyles.
Think of WorkStyles as a mixing board for your team. It doesn’t box anyone in or assign judgment. Instead, it helps you identify your own strengths, better understand your colleagues, and intentionally remix how you work together.
Work Better Together—On Purpose
WorkStyles helps teams explore how people think, decide, collaborate, and adapt—and how to actually use that information to work better together.
Because even a team of brilliant people can underperform if their ways of working constantly clash. One person’s “Let’s move fast!” can feel like chaos to someone who prefers structure. And most of us don’t even realize what our own defaults are – let alone how to shift them when it matters most.
Design Over Default
Most workplaces let teams form organically and hope for the best. But when you leave team dynamics to chance, you’re also gambling with your outcomes – and your team’s wellbeing. Instead, design intentionally. Recognize how each person’s natural strengths, preferences, and WorkStyles can fit together to form a more effective whole.
The Six-Dimension Framework
WorkStyles invites teams to explore where individuals fall on six dynamic sliders:
Decision-Making Approach: Guided by gut or driven by data?
Creativity vs. Implementation: Idea factories vs. execution champs—both are essential.
Risk & Stability: Bold leapers and cautious balancers each play a role.
Learning Edge: Sharpen existing skills or explore new frontiers?
Ambiguity Comfort: Thrive in the unknown or prefer detailed plans?
Adaptability: Maintain the system or reinvent it?
Designing your team around these dimensions helps unlock the magic of complementary strengths – not forced agreement, but aligned intention.
Why It’s Always Evolving
People grow. Roles shift. New challenges emerge. The real artistry lies in noticing when your team’s dynamics are out of tune and adjusting accordingly. Like a conductor balancing an orchestra of musicians, it takes attention, flexibility, and a commitment to making the most of every player.
How to Get Started
Assess Your Current Mix: Map out where each person is positioned on the six sliders. Who’s intuitive? Who’s systematic?
Identify Missing Voices: Are you all risk-takers with no one near the brakes if needed? Or full of big ideas but no one to implement them?
Adjust Roles and Processes: Match people to tasks and projects that align with their strengths. Let them shine in their WorkStyle sweet spots.
Stay Curious: People change. Check in regularly. Preferences shift with new skills, experiences, and contexts.
Curious About How Your Team Operates?
Speaking about staying curious, if you want to dive deeper, the full WorkStyles Framework includes:
A self-assessment tool
A facilitator’s guide for team exploration
10 common WorkStyle archetypes—and how to develop them
Bonus! Pop culture case studies to bring it all to life. Ever wonder what would happen if The Avengers swapped places with the cast of The Bear? Or if Star Wars characters ran The West Wing? We did too.
👉 Explore the full WorkStyles framework.
