The Huddle
What’s top of mind this week? Brett’s deep in presentation mode—three keynotes in one week, covering operations, AI, project management, and everything in between. Meanwhile, Greg’s eyes are on the horizon as we gear up for our very first Same Team Huddle next month: a group conversation event that’s more energizing roundtable than boring town hall. One of us is out there with a mic, the other’s designing the stage. Either way, it’s all about making space for smarter, more human conversations.
The Review: This Week’s Topic
Deloitte made it official–Build your own damn culture
This week, we dug into Greg’s latest opinion column on Same Page, which takes a flamethrower to the idea that culture should cascade from the top. Inspired by Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends report, the post breaks down how rigid systems like SAFe, EOS, and “Agile” (we use air quotes on purpose) often kill the very things they’re meant to foster: trust, autonomy, and actual innovation.
Culture doesn’t scale by default—it fragments. And that’s not a failure. It’s reality. Microcultures within teams are where the good stuff happens: stronger relationships, faster innovation, and more engaged people. So why are so many execs scared of them? Probably because they can’t control them.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why scaling culture like it’s a product rollout never works
- What “default culture” looks like (hint: it’s your Groundhog Day meetings)
- How real leaders act more like gardeners than architects—nurturing culture, not enforcing it
- And why Teamangle exists in the first place: to help you shape culture from the inside out
Also on Same Page this week:
- Navigating collaborative conflict: how to turn tension into progress
- Embracing conflict for stronger collaboration
Spoiler: conflict isn’t the enemy. In fact, the right kind of friction is where growth happens.
The Ask
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The Hit List
What we’re reading, listening to, and watching this week:
Listening
- ten days by Fred again.. – Brett’s dancing through the week with this house-adjacent banger.
- Yoyaku in-store session with Tomoki Tamura – Greg’s channeling Paris record store vibes on YouTube.
Reading
- Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray – Greg’s giving this Rosenfeld classic a second look and finding new layers on bias, beliefs, and behavior.
- FDA staff left ‘scrambling’ to complete product reviews after DOGE layoffss – Brett’s fired up about the real-world fallout of tech bro governance and fake "efficiency."
Watching
- Payback (1999) – Greg revisits the gritty Mel Gibson noir (don’t worry, pre-spiral).
- The Studio – Brett hasn’t watched it yet but he’s all in on Seth Rogen’s new show and the hype around it.
The High Five
This week’s high five goes to the culture champions—the folks who actively build, shape, and nurture the teams they’re on. Whether you’re a leader or the new hire with great vibes, culture doesn’t come from the top, it grows from everywhere. Keep planting seeds. High five!
That’s it for this week. See you next time!
