The problem is that there’s a tension between our needs and our capabilities. We cannot focus and coordinate at the same time. Focus demands attention toward problems, while coordination demands attention toward people. Focus and coordination are opposing forces, pulling on the single thread of awareness. This tension creates the focus-coordination tradeoff.

People strive for focus (concentrators), other for communication (coordinators)).

The best way to navigate the focus-coordination spectrum is to constantly harmonize these dimensions as they dance. We can impact it through:

• group size
• people (managers, ICs, rotating coordination responsibilities, stand-up leaders, meeting scribes=.
• how we communicate: synchronous vs asynchronous communication; medium
• time: Healthy teams know which moments require more focus, and which ones require more coordination.