Why teamwork is the connective tissue of performance.
Teamwork pillar introduction for the OTSP open workshop. 45 minutes. Teaches cross-functional discipline through Pixar's Brain Trust. No canvas; the case study carries the session.
Teamwork: The Connective Tissue is the fourth of five pillar introduction modules in the OTSP open workshop. It runs for 45 minutes and is designed for individual leaders and senior HR professionals encountering the Teamwork pillar for the first time.
The module's central argument is that Teamwork in OTSP is the work between teams. Every organisation has teams; few have built the cross-functional discipline that prevents silos forming. The case is Pixar's Brain Trust as documented in Ed Catmull's Creativity, Inc. (2014). Three design choices carry the teaching: composition (senior creative leads from other films), cadence (multiple sessions per film throughout production), and principle (notes, not mandates).
The module deliberately runs without a structured canvas, in the same pattern as the Leadership introduction. The Brain Trust is concrete and well-documented enough to do the teaching work itself, and the participant exercise (identifying cross-functional moments that run on goodwill, in pairs) is reflective in nature, without a canvas.
The session has four phases. Teaching the central argument (10 min). Walking through the Brain Trust as three design choices (20 min). Pairs reflecting on cross-functional moments in their own organisations (10 min). Bridge into the Brand session (5 min).
The visual signature uses Teal Mint (the Teamwork pillar accent) as the primary identity, with a small five-pillar bar at the bottom of the title slide signalling open-workshop context. The canvas slot in the deck is replaced by a three-panel case study layout, with an italic takeaway line below: "Notes, not mandates. Cross-functional discipline is built structurally."
Participants understand teamwork as the cross-functional discipline between teams, distinct from intra-team development, recognise the Brain Trust as a worked example of structurally-built collaboration, can identify one cross-functional moment in their own organisation that currently runs on goodwill, and are ready for the Brand session that follows.
This module runs without a canvas and makes the case that the real teamwork in an organisation is the work between teams. Teach the central argument, walk through Pixar's Brain Trust as three deliberate design choices, have pairs turn the same questions on their own organisations, then bridge into the next session on brand. Read Creativity, Inc. before you facilitate.
Open with the central argument: teamwork here is the work between teams. Every organisation has teams, and few have built the cross-functional discipline that prevents silos forming. Keep this tight and conceptual before you move to the worked example. Many participants will assume that bridging silos needs authority, and the example that follows shows it does not.
Work through Pixar's Brain Trust as three design choices. It is a structured peer-review practice where directors of films in progress receive candid feedback from senior creative leads working on other films. Name the three choices: composition, senior creative leads drawn from other films; cadence, several sessions across a film's production; and principle, feedback offered as notes that the director can accept or set aside, with no authority to compel. Trace each element back to the internal choices that produce it, and make the point that this works with no authority attached.
Have participants turn the same questions on their own organisation in pairs, asking where cross-functional work actually happens. Most organisations rely on the goodwill of individuals to bridge silos, and the diagnostic is whether the organisation has built that bridge into its structure or leaves it to goodwill. Their answers will be thinner than for the case study, and that gap is the point. Structure can be small: a single recurring meeting or a peer-review pair counts.
Name the link to the next session on brand, connecting fragmented teamwork to inconsistency in what customers experience on the outside, and move the group on cleanly.
Use Teamwork: The Connective Tissue when a leader is meeting the Teamwork pillar for the first time. It makes the case that the real teamwork is the work between teams, using Pixar's Brain Trust, before pairs turn the same questions on their own organisation.
Using this tool with a skilled facilitator means that discussions are focused, time is used efficiently, and the group moves toward consensus, making the session productive and impactful.
