The Collaboration Killer: How to Transform Your Team from Task-Completers to Result-Creators
Practical steps to restore teamwork, focus on outcomes, and build the leadership culture you want
In Part 1, we explored how "done/not done" reporting creates isolation, causes teams to miss crucial conversations, and loses focus on actual results. But the damage goes even deeper than that.
When we focus on completion instead of collaboration and outcomes, we're actively destroying the leadership culture we're trying to build. And most teams don't even realize it's happening.
The Deeper Cultural Damage
We're Unintentionally Training People to Hide Problems
When the focus is on getting things "done," team members learn to avoid talking about challenges, unexpected discoveries, or course corrections. After all, these conversations might suggest that their project isn't as "complete" as it should be.
The Result: Problems stay hidden until they become crises, and valuable learning never gets shared with the team.
We're Eliminating Joint Problem-Solving
Think about how "done/not done" reporting actually works in meetings:
Person A: "Customer service training program?"
Person B: "Done."
Person A: "Great. Moving on..."
What's Missing:
What did we learn about our customer service challenges?
Are we seeing improvements in customer satisfaction?
What insights could help other departments?
How can the team support this ongoing effort?
By focusing on completion status rather than results and collaboration, we systematically eliminate opportunities for the leadership team to learn together and support each other's success.
We're Creating Competition Instead of Collaboration
Binary reporting creates an unconscious competitive dynamic. Team members start thinking:
"I need to show that my projects are 'done' while others might not be"
"My job is to look good in these meetings, not to help others succeed"
"If I ask for help, it means I'm not performing well"
This is the exact opposite of the collaborative leadership culture most organizations are trying to create.
The Pattern That Destroys Teams
Here's what happens when completion-focused reporting becomes embedded in your culture:
Week 1: Team members come to meetings prepared to report status, not to collaborate
Month 1: Cross-departmental opportunities start getting missed
Quarter 1: Problems stay hidden longer because admitting challenges feels like admitting failure
Quarter 2: Innovation slows because people aren't sharing discoveries and insights
Year 1: You have a leadership team that works in parallel, in their own silos, not together
The most frustrating part? Everyone thinks they're being "accountable" while the organization's collective intelligence gets weaker.
What Collaboration-Focused Reporting Sounds Like
Instead of "done/not done," imagine if your progress reviews sounded like this:
Example 1: Customer Retention Project
Old Way: "Customer retention project? Done."
New Way: "Customer retention project: We're seeing a 15% improvement in retention rates, which beats our 10% target. The biggest surprise was that retention improved most when we simplified our billing statements—apparently, clearer invoicing reduced customer confusion significantly. This makes me wonder if we should look at all our customer communications through this lens. Vince, since you're working on the customer onboarding project, you might want to try this approach. Has anyone else noticed communication issues in their areas?"
Example 2: Process Improvement Initiative
Old Way: "Workflow optimization? Not done, but should be finished next week."
New Way: "Workflow optimization: We're about 70% through implementation, and we've discovered something important. The biggest efficiency gains aren't coming from automation like we expected. They're coming from eliminating handoffs between departments. This is making me rethink our entire approach to process design. Sally, this might relate to your supply chain project. Could we explore how to reduce handoffs in your area too?"
Notice the difference? The first approach ends conversation. The second approach starts it.
The Leadership Development Connection
Here's what most organizations miss: When you change how you report on progress, you actually develop better leaders.
Leaders who focus on results and collaboration naturally develop skills like:
Seeing connections across different parts of the business
Identifying patterns and opportunities
Helping colleagues solve complex challenges
Thinking systemically about organizational success
A team member who reports "Marketing campaign complete ✓" is functioning as a highly skilled project manager. A team member who says "Our marketing campaign drove 25% more leads than expected, and we discovered our best prospects come from an unexpected source—this might change how we think about our entire target market" is functioning as a strategic leader.
The difference is in what your reporting system rewards.
The Missed Breakthrough Pattern
Think about how many breakthrough insights get lost in traditional reporting:
Scenario: During a customer onboarding project, someone discovers that most customer confusion happens during the sales-to-delivery handoff, not during onboarding itself. This insight could revolutionize the entire customer experience.
In "Done/Not Done" Culture: The discovery never gets shared because the meeting format focuses on completion status. The insight dies in the hallway conversation after the meeting.
In Results/Collaboration Culture: The discovery becomes a team conversation that leads to cross-departmental improvements and prevents customer churn.
Which organization would you rather lead?
Practical Steps to Transform Your Team Culture
Step 1: Change Your Meeting Language
Replace these completion-focused questions:
"What's your status?"
"Are you on track?"
"When will it be done?"
"Any issues?"
With these collaboration-focused questions:
"What have you discovered?"
"What results are you seeing?"
"What do you need from the team?"
"What possibilities are you noticing?"
Step 2: Reframe Your Quarterly Priorities
Instead of task-oriented priorities, write outcome-oriented priorities that naturally invite collaboration:
Old: "Complete customer service training program"
New: "Increase customer satisfaction scores to 4.5/5.0 through improved service capabilities"
The second version invites questions like: "What approaches are you trying?" "How can marketing help?" "What are you learning about what customers really value?"
Step 3: Institute Discovery-Based Reviews
Transform your weekly "Rock Review" into a "Discovery & Support Round:"
Each person shares one key discovery from their work
Each person identifies one way the team can help
The team discusses connections and opportunities
Focus on learning and mutual support, not just completion
Step 4: Create Learning Reviews
Quarterly, ask each team member to share:
The biggest surprise in their work this quarter
One insight that could help other departments
One challenge where they need team input
One possibility they're excited to explore
Step 5: Measure What Matters
Track metrics that encourage collaboration:
Number of cross-departmental ideas generated
Frequency of team members helping each other
Quality of insights shared in meetings
Speed of organizational learning and adaptation
Actual business results from completed projects
Making the Transition
When you shift from completion-focused to collaboration-focused reporting, here's what typically happens:
Week 1-2: People feel uncertain about the new format
Week 3-4: Team members start sharing more openly about challenges
Week 5-8: Cross-departmental ideas and support increase dramatically
Quarter 2: Innovation accelerates as people build on each other's discoveries
Quarter 3: Employee engagement improves as people feel more connected
Year 1: You've built a genuine learning organization that adapts quickly
The Choice Every Leadership Team Must Make
Every organization has to decide: Do you want a leadership team that works separately, or one that works together? Do you want individual task-completers, or collaborative problem-solvers? Do you want to hit your quarterly numbers, or build long-term organizational capability that creates sustainable success?
Your reporting language determines which one you get.
When you focus on "done/not done," you're creating music for soloists and you have no orchestra. When you focus on results, learning, and mutual support, you're creating music for the orchestra your company (and customers and community) deserves.
The business operating system tools(the quarterly priorities, scorecards, and meeting rhythms, rocks, to-dos) are powerful. But they're only as good as the culture you build around them. If your words say "teamwork" but your reporting music says "individual performance," your people will listen to the music every time.
Your Next Step
The shift from completion-focused to collaboration-focused reporting is a cultural transformation that requires intention and practice. The payoff is enormous: a leadership team that actually leads together, discovers together, and succeeds together. Use the base structure of your operating system to provide the backbone upon which to create a great culture. Remember, the operating system is no more than the skeletal structure of your organization.
Start with one simple change: In your next leadership team meeting, replace "What's your status?" with "What have you discovered and what do you need from the team?"
Listen to how the music changes. Watch how your team starts to work together differently. Notice how much more you learn about what's really happening in your organization.
Most importantly, pay attention to the results. When teams focus on outcomes and collaboration instead of just completion, they create better results, develop stronger capabilities, and build the kind of culture where everyone can do their best work.
Your organization's culture is being shaped every week by how you talk about progress and success. Make sure you're composing the music you want to hear.
Because the goal is to create an organization where you and your team can achieve things you never thought possible.
About the Author: David Norman, author of Supercharge: A New Playbook for Leadership, helps organizations transform their business operating systems from task-management tools into culture-building engines. Through community-focused leadership development, teams learn to create environments where collaboration and accountability naturally emerges and meaningful progress becomes the norm.
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