Data Driven vs Data Inspired [Part 4 of 5]

Why Smart Teams Stay Stuck

Smart teams choose data-driven thinking.

Even when they know better.

It's not because they're dumb. It's because of how we reward teams.

Here's what I mean.

Two team members keep fighting about everything. Creative direction. Deadlines. Who gets the good projects.

The team lead steps in, talks it out, sets boundaries, and solves the problem.

For a week.

Then they fight again. The same pattern, the same solution, and the same temporary peace.

The team lead gets praised. "You handled that well." "You're good with people."

Now the team lead is the problem solver. That's the reputation and role.

What if the real issue isn't the two people, but how work is assigned, success is measured, or the team structure creates competition instead of collaboration?

The team lead could dig deeper, but that takes time. Everyone wants results now.

Here's why we stay stuck.

We reward firefighters, not fire preventers.

Fighting fires gets noticed, but preventing fires is boring.

Our people do this. We celebrate quick fixes. We promote those who solve visible problems. We don't reward those who prevent problems.

Smart teams learn to be firefighters. It's safer, noticeable, and builds reputations.

The deeper questions are risky. You might be wrong, take too long, or not get credit for nonexistent problems.

Teams repeatedly create the same problems.

Then they celebrate the problem solvers.

This is how teams stay data-driven.

They reward the wrong thing.

Can your team escape its reward system?

In Part 5: Breaking free.