The Secret to High-Performing Teams (Hint: It’s Not Tech)

What do you think is the most popular internal training course at Google?

Most people guess something highly technical, like AI or some sort of cutting edge coding. Well, you’d be wrong.

One of Google’s most oversubscribed programmes is called Search Inside Yourself (SIY). A programme that’s all about mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and how we operate under pressure. If you’re responsible for a team, this is worth paying attention to.

Because the most important “technology” in any business isn’t the laptops on the desks, it's what is running inside people’s heads.

Search Inside Yourself was created by Google engineer Chade-Meng Tan, who later wrote the bestselling book of the same name.

The reason it took off inside a company full of engineers?
It wasn’t fluffy. It wasn’t abstract. And it definitely wasn’t “sit cross-legged and hope for the best”.

It was presented in a logical, practical way, as emotional intelligence backed by science. Even the most sceptical, number driven minds could see the value… and more importantly, use it in their day-to-day work.

At its heart, SIY is about noticing what’s going on internally before stress, pressure or frustration take the wheel.

It focuses on a few key pillars that every high-performing team needs:

Emotional Awareness
Noticing thoughts and emotions as they arise, instead of being unknowingly driven by them.

Calm Under Pressure
Learning how to pause, find your centre, and respond with clarity rather than reacting from stress.

Cognitive Performance
Reducing mental noise so people have the focus and bandwidth to actually do their best work.

Research shared by Harvard Business Review shows these practices don’t just make people feel calmer, they actually strengthen the parts of the brain linked to emotional regulation and perspective-taking.

In other words: this stuff actually works.

Why does this matter? 

In today’s busy world, work feels loud and constant.

Never ending notifications. Tight deadlines. Market uncertainty. Hybrid teams.
It’s easy for even the greatest of teams to slip into survival mode: reactive, burnt out, and disconnected.

Teaching people to “search inside themselves” isn’t about switching off from reality.
It’s about giving them the tools to access a better mindset, one that supports focus, creativity, and collaboration.

When people are less overwhelmed by background noise, they show up better for the task (and the people) in front of them.

This philosophy is a big part of what we explore during our Team Impact Days.

Through simple, practical exercises (and plenty of fresh air!), we help teams:

• Increase focus by cutting through mental clutter
• Reduce stress and shift from survival mode into creative thinking
• Build resilience so they stay grounded, even when things feel chaotic

It’s not about forcing change.

It’s about creating the conditions where better thinking, better conversations, and better teamwork can naturally happen.

If you’d like to help your team feel more centred and unlock a new level of performance, we’d love to help. 

Give us a shout and let’s have a conversation about what your team really needs right now.