7 Principles on Building Trust From Ted Lasso

7 Principles on Building Trust From Ted Lasso A few weeks ago, I found myself watching Ted Lasso, and what started as entertainment became something else entirely: a masterclass on what makes teams actually work, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was witnessing, this peculiar alchemy where incompetence somehow creates excellence. What struck me wasn’t the humor, though there’s plenty of it, but rather the central paradox that drives the entire narrative: here is a man who knows nothing about football, managing a professional sports team, and somehow his team doesn’t just perform better, they transform into something qualitatively different from what they were before. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠ https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠ https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠ https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

• 0:15Speaker 00

  There's a show that keeps coming up in conversation at agile conferences everywhere I go. And the show is called Ted Lasso. Admittedly, I've never watched it, but everyone says I should. So I wanted to talk about a lesson, or a set of lessons or principles, that you can learn about building trust from the show Ted Lasso. And I know you're probably wondering, you haven't seen it. But the point is, I did enough research that I feel like I know the show better than many people do. So I'm gonna give this a shot and see how it goes. A lesson on the one quality that separates good leaders from the rest. A few weeks ago, I found myself researching Ted Lasso. And what started as entertainment became something else entirely.

• 0:58Speaker 00

  A masterclass on what makes teams actually work. And I couldn't stop thinking about what I was witnessing. This peculiar alchemy where incompetence somehow creates excellence. What struck me wasn't the humor, though I'm sure there's plenty of that, but rather the central paradox that drives the entire narrative. Here's a man who knows nothing about football, managing a professional sports team. And somehow, his team doesn't just perform better, they transform into something qualitatively different than what they were before. Not only through motivational speeches that stick to the corporate template, nor systems and processes we typically associate with organizational improvement, but through something far simpler and far more difficult to articulate.

• 1:42Speaker 00

  Radical trust in the people around him. I want to explore what that means for us, and particularly for those of us who lead teams, even design teams. Because I believe this isn't just a television story. It's a study into something we've managed to complicate unnecessarily. If I asked you to list the qualities of a great manager, you'd probably say technical expertise, vision, communication, skills, the ability to make hard decisions, capacity to plan and execute. These are all things we discuss in leadership books and design conferences, and they matter, yeah. But they're not always what separates the managers from people who actually want to work for, than from those they tolerate or actively dread.

• 2:27Speaker 00

  So, a lot of research was done by someone named Segal Barisade and Olivia Kavanade on psychological safety and interpersonal trust in organizational settings. And what they found is that teams with high levels of interpersonal trust show measurably higher rates of innovation, significantly better problem-solving capacity, and dramatically increased resilience when facing pressure of uncertainty. These teams think differently. They propose ideas more freely and take intellectual risks that they wouldn't take otherwise. As a consequence, they're not consuming cognitive resources on self-protection and image management.

• 3:09Speaker 00

  When people trust a person leading them, when they know that person genuinely believes in their capability, something shifts in the neural mechanisms governing risk-taking and social cooperation. And our hero, Ted Lasso, doesn't build trust through competence because he can't. He's genuinely incompetent in the football domain. But he successfully engages his team through consistent unwavering belief in people, and this becomes a foundation upon which everything else can be constructed. So what does this look like when you translate it from a television show into an actual design landscape or leadership landscape? Let me share seven specific things that we've noticed from this genius series that can

• 3:52Speaker 00

  translate into what you do. Ted eats with his players. He sits with them, makes mistakes that everyone witnesses, and this isn't about being likable, it's about being human in a system where people are often afraid to be human. That's how you invite your people to be themselves in your team. Many managers unconsciously treat their team as an instrument for their own advancement, and people sense this immediately. Ted's entire frame is genuinely oriented around how we make this team better and how we'll make everyone equal, even assistant.

• 4:33Speaker 00

  If you genuinely doubt someone can do their job, you have two choices: help them succeed or move them elsewhere. What you cannot do is perform skepticism about their ability in front of the team. The moment you do, you've broken down the team's belief and trust.

• 4:52Speaker 00

  I think this all boils down to you can't, you can't hold doubt about someone's capability as a person. You need to celebrate their capability and what they can do. Second, want to celebrate both the losses and the wins. Ted's team celebrates losses just as much they do wins. They celebrate showing up and failing instead of what did you do wrong? The question becomes, what did you discover? And this shift changes when people are defending their work or exploring it. How about the next one? Trust means don't solve their problems for them. Many managers, the moment they see a problem, they come up with a solution and jump in to fix it. The harder managers work is to let your team struggle a little bit, offering perspective when asked for, of course.

• 5:38Speaker 00

  That obstacle, the obstacles that are, those obstacles are when the learning truly starts happening. Don't just jump in and do it for them. Next is ideas don't have value or validity until they meet reality. Ted doesn't filter ideas at the proposal stage. He's curious about them. He lets them exist before they're even tested. But designers know, designers know it and probably our superpower, what we know ideation is. How we create and how we ideate and how we discover, those are our superpowers and those things exist. Let's go to the next one. Football is life. The work your team, the work of your team matters deeply.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  Our hero brings everything he is into his work. And that seriousness creates permission for humor, for humanity, for people who care deeply. In your team, are you creating a culture where work is something worth bringing your full self to? Or are you just managing, managing the job?

• 6:43Speaker 00

  I think what it all boils down to is to be a great leader. We should not be asking, do I have the right framework, the right tools, the right processes? Because it's secondary, something that you can Google and ask your preferred chat GPT or other large language model. The right question should be, do my people know without any doubt that I genuinely believe in them? Don't just think about this in abstract, but notice it in your actual work and your next team meeting, pay attention to who speaks up and who holds back. Notice what they're willing to attempt, what risks they're willing to take. And then ask yourself, and I hope that you will like what you see. Because what I can tell you is teams that know that you believe in them are the ones that are going to be most successful. That's going to do it. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

• 7:28Speaker 00

  If you have a topic you want us to discuss, learn more at agiledad.com. We'd love to hear from you. And as always, we encourage you to stay healthy, stay well and stay agile, my friends. Until next time, do take care. Bye now.