Newsletter (January 2025): Unpacking the Myths: Rethinking Team Design and Organizational Success

Written By Ana Ciobotaru
 
 
 

The current edition has been curated by Brian Graham



In the previous edition, we explored three persistent myths that often misguide leadership teams: "Team Topologies is about assigning the four team types to existing teams," "We don’t need teams if we hire really smart people," and "Platform teams are for all the tech stuff we can’t put a PM on". Each of these myths highlights common misconceptions about team structures, ownership, and collaboration that can derail organizational progress.

Building on that foundation, this edition addresses three more prevalent myths about organizational design and team dynamics, focusing on how leaders can foster environments that drive sustainable success and innovation.

Myth 4: Organizational design is best kept to a few high-level leaders who understand the big picture.

Effective team design requires a nuanced approach that adapts to organizational scale. While leadership sets strategic direction, successful team structures must be dynamically tailored to the organization's size and complexity. In smaller teams of 50 people, direct communication and flexible restructuring are more achievable. In large departments with 5000 people, the design process becomes exponentially more complex, necessitating more sophisticated alignment mechanisms.

Regardless of scale, achieving true success requires continuous feedback loops and active input from the teams themselves. Teams possess critical insights into workflow details, obstacles, and potential efficiencies. They are best equipped to identify and implement solutions, as they directly negotiate priorities, redesign processes, and acquire necessary skills.

To bridge leadership vision with team-level insights, organizations need skilled integrators who can translate strategic objectives across different organizational scales. These professionals must understand how communication patterns, dependencies, and expertise domains vary dramatically between small and large teams. The goal is to create adaptable structures that enable sustainable success, recognizing that one-size-fits-all approaches inevitably fail.

For instance, Gjensidige Insurance has embraced Team Topologies by implementing stream-aligned teams focusing on specific business products, allowing them to respond more effectively to customer needs. This approach reflects a collaborative effort where team insights are integral to organizational design rather than dictated solely by leadership. Similarly, uSwitch/RVU has developed a modern platform from scratch, enabling their stream-aligned teams to concentrate on consumer needs while offloading infrastructure concerns to platform teams. Both case studies illustrate how involving teams in the design process leads to better alignment with business objectives and enhances overall performance.


When leaders collaborate with teams to refine organizational design iteratively, they create systems that evolve with changing needs. This approach fosters autonomy and accountability, empowering teams to adapt and optimize their workflows in alignment with business goals.

Myth 5: Moving fast requires keeping constant pressure on teams

FALSE. Sustained speed and innovation are not achieved by overloading teams with relentless pressure. Instead, fast-flow comes from designing environments that reduce friction, simplify interactions, and enable teams to focus on streamlining value.

For instance, PureGym transformed its software development processes by realigning its teams according to Team Topologies principles, which allowed them to enhance operational efficiency and responsiveness without the burden of constant pressure.

Similarly, Visma, a leading European software company, adopted these principles to improve service ownership and accelerate change processes. By focusing on creating supportive environments that empower teams rather than pressuring them, both organizations illustrate that true agility and speed stem from effective team dynamics and a culture of collaboration.

Wealth Wizards also exemplifies this approach by redesigning their team structures to reduce cognitive load and enhance autonomy. By implementing the four fundamental Team Topologies, they created cross-functional teams that could innovate and deliver value more effectively, demonstrating that true agility stems from empowering teams rather than pressuring them.

Myth 6: There is an ideal target team topology we can design for

FALSE. Team topologies are not one-size-fits-all solutions. While approaches like Team Topologies provide invaluable patterns for design, they are meant to be adaptable. Rather than concentrating solely on individual team structures, organizations should switch to optimal team structure at any time depending on the unique needs of the organization, its technical landscape, and its evolving goals.

The most effective team topologies emerge from iterative experimentation and learning. Leaders must constantly be aware of how the organization changes and needs to adapt so they can continuously guiding principles like reducing dependencies, fostering collaboration, and enabling fast flow, rather than adhering to rigid structures. One of the reasons leadership in this space is so challenging is that we are constantly pursuing a moving target. A dynamic approach allows teams to adapt as challenges and opportunities arise, whereas a static ideal design allows fast flow to sneak away from you.

By addressing these myths, organizations can move beyond surface-level fixes and build systems that empower teams to deliver sustained, meaningful impact.

Are you aware of any myth or misconception such as the ones above? We would love to hear from you.

What’s Coming Up Next?

We are gathering all Team Topologies events on our Events page and would love to hear your feedback about the ones you have attended or the ones that we have missed.

Join the Community

Over 500 active members are already engaging with practitioners, authors, and enthusiasts in the Team Topologies Community. Launched just over a month ago, the community is quickly becoming the go-to hub for sharing knowledge and seeking guidance on learning Team Topologies or applying its concepts to optimize business and teams for faster flow. Join one of the popular spaces, such as "For Fast Flow" or "For Leaders," to get your questions answered by Team Topologies experts or even the authors themselves. Let's collaborate to explore new use cases and build a valuable knowledge-sharing database that benefits everyone.

Let's welcome our new Team Topologies Advocate:

If you're passionate about Team Topologies and want to become an advocate, we would love to have you join us. Or, if you have a story to share, we would be honored to feature it on the website.

If you'd like to share your experiences or need assistance, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

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Ana Ciobotaru
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Project to Product Transitions: Challenges & Solutions Nobody Talks About