When your team didn't choose each other

I've been sitting in a lot of rooms lately where people are talking past each other — not out of ill will, but because they're operating from completely different assumptions about how to communicate, who speaks first, and what silence means. Displacement does something to teams that's easy to misread as a culture problem. It's not. This fortnight I want to share what I'm actually seeing on the ground — and what you can do about it right now. — Andy Fieldhouse

The Teams Nobody Chose Are Struggling — It's Not a Culture Problem

Teams thrown together by circumstance — relocation, crisis, restructure — are discovering that sharing a floor plan is not the same as sharing a team. The instinct is to reach for diversity training or a culture programme. That instinct is wrong. Here's the research on what's actually happening, and three things you can do this week.

Psychological Safety — What It Is and Why Your Team Needs It

This is the foundation everything else is built on. If your team can't speak up, can't admit mistakes, can't challenge each other — nothing else works. In this video I break down what psychological safety actually means in practice and how to start building it this week.

Leading Your Team Through a Crisis: What Every Leader Needs to Know

Most leaders aren't ready for this. Not because they're not capable — but because leading through a crisis is fundamentally different from leading in normal times. The rules change, the stakes are higher, and your impact on your team — positive or negative — is amplified significantly. Here's what good crisis leadership actually looks like.

Name the situation out loud

If your team is under pressure or navigating change, don't wait for the perfect moment to acknowledge it. Name it — simply, directly, without drama. 'We didn't choose to be in this situation, and I know it's hard.' Research consistently shows psychological safety spikes when a leader names the difficulty rather than ignoring it. Shared fear, spoken aloud, is smaller than private fear carried alone.

Ask Andy

Do you have a question that I can help you with? Send it to me on the link below and I will answer it. I’d like to publish one answer every fortnight — so that any readers with a similar concern can benefit. I will ask if you are OK for me to use your question, and I will make you and your situation anonymous before I share it.

Book a Call

If you want to find out more about how we could help your team or organisation, I’d love to hear from you. You can book a Microsoft Teams call with me here: