Why High Functioning Teams Fail

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In this week's podcast episode, we are joined by one of our Advisory Board members, Dr. Joan Johnston, to talk about why high functioning teams fail. With over 30 years of experience working with the Department of Defense, Dr. Johnston is an expert on decision making and simulation training. Throughout her career she has made a significant impact on advancing the science of Learning, Team Training, Decision Making under Stress, Performance Measurement, and Organizational Development.

For this episode, we use the tragic incident involving the USS Vincennes where the guided missile destroyer accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger plane after mistaking it for an F-14 fighter jet, as a focal point of the discussion. Dr. Johnston walked us through the critical errors that were made during that incident, the role that stress plays on communication and decision-making, and she shares her insights on what it takes to build more resilient, high-performing teams.

This episode is a powerful reminder of the human factors that influence decision-making and how easily things can go wrong—even with the best of teams. But it also provides a hopeful message: with effective training, strong leadership, and a commitment to learning from past mistakes, we can build teams that are more resilient, adaptable, and prepared to handle the challenges they face.

Thank you so much for tuning in, we hope you enjoy the episode and please check out our Patreon channel where we have a lot more content, as well as subscriber only episodes of the show. If you enjoy the podcast, I will kindly ask that you leave us a review and more importantly, please share it with a friend. Thank you for your time and don’t forget that Training Changes Behavior!

Episode Links
https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps-program/index.html

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01480/full

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