Why Collaboration Fails—and What to Do About It
We’ve all been there. A deadline looms, tensions rise, and suddenly, instead of working together, the team turns against itself. Someone blames another for a mistake. A crucial conversation never happens because people assume they already know the outcome. Gossip spreads. Issues are raised through back channels instead of directly with those involved. And before you know it, collaboration grinds to a halt.
These behaviors aren’t signs of "bad" employees or teams—they’re deeply ingrained defensive reactions to uncertainty and stress. But they come at a heavy cost. When these saboteurs run unchecked, teams lose trust, innovation stalls, and organizational goals suffer.
The Main Psychological Safety Saboteurs
1. Blame: The Innovation Killer
Blame is one of the fastest ways to destroy psychological safety. When something goes wrong, our instinct is often to protect ourselves by assigning fault elsewhere. The problem? A blame-driven culture keeps teams from learning from mistakes. Instead of asking, What can we learn from this?, employees ask, Who is responsible for this failure?
Real-World Impact: In one company, a product team’s failed launch led to finger-pointing between marketing and engineering. Instead of fixing the process, they spent weeks defending their positions—delaying critical improvements and frustrating leadership.
Scientific Backing: Research published in The Open Psychology Journal (2023) highlights that blame-oriented cultures decrease engagement and increase workplace stress, leading to higher attrition rates (Kabat-Farr & Cortina, 2023).
Leadership Consequence: When leaders assign blame instead of accountability, employees start hiding problems. Bad news is swept under the rug, and early warning signs of failure get ignored until it’s too late.
2. Assumptions: The Silent Saboteur
Assumptions seem harmless, but they quietly erode communication and collaboration. When teams assume they know what customers, colleagues, or leaders think, they stop asking questions and engaging in meaningful dialogue.
Real-World Impact: A sales team assumes they know why deals are lost—without ever asking customers for feedback. Marketing assumes sales will follow up on leads, while sales assumes the leads aren’t worth pursuing. The result? Missed revenue and wasted effort.
Scientific Backing: A study published in Frontiers in Psychology (2021) found that assumption-driven workplaces lead to cognitive overload, reducing decision-making efficiency and increasing workplace errors (Jiang et al., 2021).
Leadership Consequence: Leaders who operate on unchecked assumptions make poor strategic decisions. They roll out initiatives based on guesswork, leading to resistance and misalignment across the organization.
3. Triangulation: Conflict’s Best Friend
Triangulation happens when people relay concerns to a third party instead of addressing the issue directly. Instead of saying, Hey, this project timeline isn’t working—can we adjust?, an employee complains to their manager about their teammate. The manager then steps in, making decisions without the full picture.
Real-World Impact: At a growing startup, an operations team avoided direct conversations about bottlenecks with engineering. Instead, they escalated issues to leadership. The result? Confusion, resentment, and slowed progress.
Scientific Backing: Research on workplace conflict resolution shows that triangulation fosters distrust, increasing organizational silos and reducing collective problem-solving ability (Kabat-Farr & Cortina, 2023).
Leadership Consequence: When leaders accept triangulated feedback without pushing for direct conversations, they reinforce a culture of avoidance. Teams spend more time navigating politics than solving problems.
4. Gossip: The Trust Eroder
Gossip often masquerades as harmless venting. But in reality, it creates an environment of suspicion and fear. When employees hear about themselves through second-hand conversations rather than direct dialogue, trust disintegrates.
Real-World Impact: A product leader privately criticizes a designer’s work in meetings with other managers. Word gets back to the designer, who now feels isolated and undervalued. Their engagement drops, and they start looking for another job.
Scientific Backing: A study on workplace gossip published in Frontiers in Psychology found that gossip increases stress, reduces job satisfaction, and correlates with higher turnover rates (Jiang et al., 2021).
Leadership Consequence: Leaders who engage in or tolerate gossip weaken their teams. Employees spend more energy deciphering office politics than collaborating on impactful work
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The Business Impact: When Collaboration Breaks Down
Department | Consequences of Collaboration Breakdown | Bottom-Line Impact |
Sales | - Key knowledge about customer needs isn’t shared- Pipeline slows due to miscommunication- Frustrated customers get inconsistent messaging | - Lost revenue from missed deals- Decreased customer retention |
Marketing | - Misaligned messaging with product and sales- Wasted ad spend on the wrong audience | - Low ROI on campaigns- Brand reputation suffers |
Engineering | - Delayed product releases due to poor handoffs- Lack of feedback leads to unnecessary rework | - Higher development costs- Missed market opportunities |
Operations | - Inefficiencies in process execution- Slow response times to bottlenecks | - Increased operational costs- Lower productivity |
Product | - Features don’t align with user needs- Launch delays due to miscommunication with engineering | - Poor adoption rates- Lost competitive edge |
Fixing the Problem: The Path to Empowered Teams
At Mosaicli, we believe that psychological safety is the foundation of thriving, innovative teams. Our core workshops target these destructive behaviors head-on, replacing them with habits that drive collaboration and trust. After engaging with our programs, teams move from:
Blame → Accountability: Creating a culture of ownership and shared learning.
Assumptions → Inquiry: Encouraging curiosity and open dialogue.
Triangulation → Direct Conversations: Building clarity and alignment.
Gossip → Transparency: Strengthening trust through honest communication.
Empowered teams drive innovation. When people feel safe to challenge ideas, admit mistakes, and collaborate openly, organizations see measurable improvements in speed, efficiency, and impact.
It’s time to stop the saboteurs in their tracks—and build a culture where collaboration thrives.
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