BRAVE • FOCUSED • BRILLIANT Playing Different Games at the Same Table Everyone is optimizing for something. That's the reason your team's tension might not be a problem to solve but a reality to name.

Every person in your organization is trying to optimize for something. The problem is, they're probably not all optimizing for the same thing.

And, neither are you.

This is the invisible source of a tremendous amount of organizational tension. We assume that conflict is about personality clashes or poor communication or misaligned priorities, and sometimes it is. But more often than I think we realize, the friction comes from something deeper: people are playing different games at the same table. They're each trying to win, but they're keeping score differently.

Let me explain what I mean.

Think about the people on your team. One of them is optimizing for stability. They want predictability. They want to know what's expected, deliver on it, and not have the ground shift beneath them every quarter. They're not resistant to change because they're lazy. They're resistant because instability is the thing they're trying to eliminate from their work life. When you announce a reorg, they don't hear "exciting new chapter." They hear threat.

Someone else on your team is optimizing for recognition. They want to be seen. They want their contribution to matter visibly, not just functionally. They'll volunteer for the high-profile project not because they're glory hounds but because being known for their work is the currency that makes everything else feel worthwhile. When their effort disappears into the team's collective output with no acknowledgment, they don't just feel overlooked. They feel like the deal is broken.

Another person is optimizing for autonomy. They want the freedom to figure things out their own way. Give them a clear target and room to run and they will do remarkable work. But put them in a system of checkpoints and approvals and they start to wither. It's not defiance. It's that the way they do their best work requires space, and when you take the space away, you take their best work with it.

Someone else is optimizing for craft. They care about the quality of the work itself, sometimes to a degree that frustrates everyone around them. They're the ones who want one more pass at the deck, one more round of refinement, because to them the work is the point. Shipping something they consider half-finished feels like a betrayal of what they're here to do. They're not being precious. They're honoring the thing that drew them into creative work in the first place.

And of course, there are people optimizing for efficiency. They want to move fast, eliminate waste, get to outcomes. They are the ones asking "why are we still talking about this?" in the meeting while the person optimizing for craft is asking for one more revision. Neither of them is wrong. They're just measuring different things.

You could extend this list. Some people are optimizing for income, and there's nothing wrong with that. They've done the math on their life and they need their work to generate a certain return, and decisions that threaten that return feel existential in a way that people optimizing for calling might not understand.

Others are optimizing for comfort, which isn't the same as laziness. It means they've found a rhythm that works and they want to protect it.

Still others are optimizing for meaning. They need to feel like the work connects to something larger than the quarterly targets, and when that connection breaks, their engagement goes with it.

Here's why this matters to you as a leader: you are also optimizing for something. And whatever that something is, it shapes the way you lead, the decisions you make, and the things you reward and punish without even realizing it.

If you're optimizing for efficiency, you will unconsciously create an environment that penalizes the person optimizing for craft.

If you're optimizing for recognition, you might inadvertently compete with the people on your team who need to be seen.

If you're optimizing for stability, you might resist the bold move that the person optimizing for meaning is desperate to make.

None of these drives are wrong. That's the important thing. The tension doesn't come from anyone being broken. It comes from the fact that these optimization targets are often in direct competition with each other, and almost no one names them out loud.

So what do you do with this?

First, name your own. Get honest about what you are actually optimizing for in this season. Not what you think you should be optimizing for. What you actually are. Your behavior will tell you the truth even if your aspirations won't.

Second, get curious about what people around you are optimizing for. You don't have to agree with their priorities. But you do have to understand them if you want to lead them well. The next time someone's behavior frustrates you, before you label it as a problem, ask yourself: what might they be optimizing for that would make this behavior make perfect sense?

Third, have the conversation with your team. Make the invisible visible. When people can name what they're each trying to protect or pursue, the disagreements don't disappear, but they do get a lot less personal. You stop fighting about the decision and start talking about the competing values underneath it. That's a much more productive conversation.

The goal isn't to get everyone optimizing for the same thing. That's neither possible nor desirable. A team full of people who only care about efficiency will produce fast, soulless work. A team full of people who only care about craft will never ship. You need the tension. But you need it to be conscious tension, not the underground kind that slowly corrodes trust and alignment.

So, what are you optimizing for? And do the people around you know?

Leading talented people is hard. Don't do it alone. Creative Leader Roundtable is a one of a kind program for leaders of small and mid-sized creative teams. We are raising one more roundtable of 8 leaders, which starts in April. Learn More

Todd Henry teaches leaders and teams how to be brave, focused, and brilliant. He is the author of seven books, and speaks internationally on creativity, leadership, and passion for work. ​TODDHENRY.COM​ ​​​​​

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