It’s December now.
The baseball season is over. The emotions have settled.
This is the moment great teams use to reflect and not reset blindly.
High-performing teams don’t rely on heroic effort. They build an environment that allow people to succeed together under pressure.
In this second part of the series, we step back from the scoreboard and examine how the Jays transformed raw talent into cohesive performance and why this is where many delivery teams may unknowingly stall.
High-performing teams shift from “Positions” to “Purpose”
Baseball defines positions clearly, pitcher, catcher, shortstop but what elevates teams like the Jays is that every player understands their purpose within the inning, within the game, within the series.
They know when to create space, when to shift, when to cover and when to communicate.
Great delivery teams do the same. They don’t just know their role, they know how their work serves the outcome.
That shift is dramatic:
From “My ticket” to “Our work”
From “My velocity” to “Our value delivery”
From “My success” to “Our outcomes”
Your product ships when the system performs.
Alignment isn’t consensus
This past season, one of the Jays’ superpowers was visible alignment. Alignment doesn’t always mean everyone agrees, it means that everyone proceeds.
For the Jays, John Schneider’s coaching direction flowed clearly and players understood why decisions were made.
For delivery teams, this might be a place where the breakdown starts. Meetings are conducted without shared priorities, silent misalignment, social harmony over clarity and potentially endless debates instead of decisive learning.
If there is one thing that I admire about high-performing teams, it is that they choose clarity over comfort.
Communication is the Glue
During the World Series, one of the most telling moments wasn’t a highlight play, it was what happened before one.
In a high-leverage situation, you could see the Jays’ infield communicating constantly: the shortstop signalling a shift, the second baseman adjusting positioning, the pitcher nodding after a brief glance toward home, and the catcher reinforcing the plan before the pitch. No one waited for a mistake to react. They communicated what they saw — wind, runner movement, batter tendencies — before anything broke down.
The Jays constantly communicate what they see, not just what they’re doing.
Delivery teams plateau when:
People hoard context
Dependencies stay hidden
Risks go unspoken
Leaders assume silence = alignment
Great communication isn’t more meetings or more messages. It’s the right communication at the right moment, before problems continue to compound.
Accountability Without Blame
One of the most impressive behaviours this season was post-loss accountability:
"I missed that play"
"I should've made that call"
"I need to execute better."
No excuses. No finger pointing. Just ownership and focusing on moving forward.
Delivery teams thrive when:
Individuals own outcomes, not just tasks
Misses are discussed openly
Learning replaces defensiveness
Progress is measured by results, not the amount of effort
Accountability creates trust. Trust creates speed.
What you can do this week with your team
Try one of these experiments:
Share context for work, do not assign tasks
Make invisible work visible
List any dependencies to reduce any surprises.Normalize quick feedback
Ask: “What’s one behaviour that would make collaboration smoother for this sprint?”
Stay tuned for part 3, as we will explore how elite teams sustain momentum, stay resilient through setbacks, and evolve their strategy under pressure.
If you’re ready to move beyond observation and into action:
👉 Take the 10-minute Team Health Check inside Socrates Advice to uncover the behaviours helping and hindering your teams performance.
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