Welcome to this month's edition of Plumtree Perspectives, and whether you're new here or returning, thank you for being part of the Plumtree community!
Each month we share new ideas, practical tools, and simple frameworks focused on how R&D teams can collaborate more effectively, thrive in complexity, and deliver faster for patients.
The strongest teams do not ignore history. They understand it. They explore the moments that shaped how they think, how they work, and what they believe is possible.
History matters deeply in R&D organizations because drug development programs take years. Teams experience leadership changes, portfolio shifts, reorganizations, setbacks, new pressures, evolving strategies, and changing external environments across the life of a program.
Over time, those experiences shape assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors. They influence what people believe is possible, what is risky, who makes decisions, and how work gets done.
Some of those beliefs are still useful. Others were formed in moments that no longer reflect today's reality.
Yet they continue shaping how teams operate. Teams hesitate. People wait for permission. Functions protect themselves. Innovation narrows. Trust erodes over time.
History can become one of the most powerful hidden forces holding a team back from adapting, flourishing, and delivering.
What we're noticing
Many organizations are moving through periods of rapid growth, transformation, portfolio change, restructuring, and increasing complexity.
At the same time, teams are being asked to deliver faster, adapt continuously, and collaborate across increasingly interconnected systems.
In one clinical development organization, leaders were trying to understand why teams were risk averse. As we worked with the organization, it became clear that the current tensions could not be understood through the present state alone.
The team mapped several years of organizational shifts, leadership changes, portfolio expansion, new processes, role redesigns, and moments of significant pressure.
Patterns quickly emerged. Periods of strategy shifts created ambiguity. High turnover disrupted continuity and trust. Repeated changes in structure created uncertainty around ownership. Teams were no longer clear on what decision rights they owned, so they continually asked for permission.
What initially appeared to be risk averse teams were actually the result of accumulated organziational experiences over time. The history created the context.
And once the leaders and teams could see that history together, it became easier to understand why certain behaviors, tensions, and ways of working had emerged and what to do differently moving forward.
The insight
Teams and organizations are shaped as much by their accumulated experiences as they are by their structures. The most effective teams do not ignore their history. They learn from it.
When teams create space to examine key moments over time, several things often happen.
People begin connecting events that previously felt disconnected
Teams develop more empathy for why others operate the way they do
Leaders gain visibility into how decisions created unintended downstream effects
Team members gain a shared perspective, regardless of tenure
Teams become better equipped to identify the shifts required moving forward
History is not only useful for understanding what happened. It helps teams define what they want to become.
The Plumtree Perspective
At Plumtree, we often use historical reflection as an organizational learning tool to help teams make sense of complexity together.
A well-designed history session can help teams:
Identify patterns across organizational changes
Surface unresolved tensions and assumptions
Understand how trust and behaviors evolved over time
Recognize moments that accelerated or slowed progress
Clarify the capabilities and cultural shifts needed moving forward
One of the most valuable aspects of this work is that it creates a shared narrative. Instead of fragmented perspectives across teams, functions or levels, people begin seeing the broader system together.
That shared understanding often becomes the foundation for stronger alignment, better collective decision making, deeper partnership, and healthier adaptation.
History gives teams perspective. And perspective creates the possibiity for more intentional change.
What you can try
If your team is navigating change or recurring collaboration challenges, try running a simple historical reflection session using the following steps:
Step 1: Map key moments over time
Ask:
What major organizational, leadership, portfolio, or process changes occurred?
What moments created energy or momentum?
What moments created tension, confusion, or frustration?
Step 2: Surface the impact
Ask:
How did these events affect trust, communication, ownership, and decision making?
What patterns emerged in how teams adapted?
What behaviors became normalized over time?
Step 3: Define the critical from -> to shifts
Ask:
What do we need to leave behind?
What do we want to carry forward?
What leadership behaviors, team norms, or operating principles will help us get there?
The goal is not to create a perfect historical record. It's to create enough shared understanding that the team can move forward with greater clarity, empathy, and alignment.
For this month's Plumtree Book Corner, we've been reading David Epstein's Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better.
One idea stood out immediately. Constraints are not always the enemy of innovation. In many cases, they help teams focus, prioritize, and make better decisions together.
That feels especially relevant in R&D organizations, where the instinct under pressure is often to add more. More meetings. More governance. More process. But over time, that can create complexity without improving coordination or clarity.
Epstein argues that well-designed constraints can actually strengthen creativity and performance by helping teams focus on what matters most.
A few takeaways that resonated with us:
Constraints can sharpen decision making and priorities
Too many options often slow teams down
Clear guardrails support autonomy and adaptation
Creativity often emerges inside boundaries, not outside them
The strongest teams we see are not operating without constraints. They are clear about which constraints help the work move forward and which ones create unnecessary friction.
That distinction matters.
Want to learn more? Click the image for the Amazon link.
Until next time!
If your R&D team is navigating complexity and you want support getting aligned and moving faster, we’re happy to start with a conversation.
Plumtree is here to help teams and organizations work together at the speed of science.
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