# The Trait That Turns Chaos Into Measurable Progress... is what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Growing your career\ **Created:** [November 13, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363 "2025-11-13T23:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/1 "2025-11-13T23:09:17Z")
You could argue that every executive or leader’s goal are relatively the same: fewer surprises, more predictability, faster learning, and less wasted effort. But only a small percentage of product teams consistently deliver that level of performance. **Which begs the question….** **What’s the #1 trait of high-performing product teams?** ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/2 "2025-11-13T23:10:27Z")
IMO - I think it starts with shared accountability for outcomes, not outputs. Ex: Its not “Design’s Job” or “Engineering’s Job” there needs to be alignment from the gate to prevent chaos 💡 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/3 "2025-11-13T23:23:39Z")
# Curiosity The best teams challenge themselves based on asking a lot of questions. ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/4 "2025-11-14T00:12:24Z")
@bryan Woot! Based on what? ---
**Author:** ![MoData](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/modata/32/1182_2.png) [@MoData](https://forum.zurb.com/u/MoData)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/5 "2025-11-15T00:38:53Z")
To me it’s what I would call being evidence based, whether that’s data-driven, data-informed, through anecdotal customer stories or just tangible business analytics. Determining a direction based on what we _do know_. Curiosity helps drive this discovery process, but I like confidence when deciding a direction. Confidence provided through evidence. ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/6 "2025-11-15T00:46:44Z")
> [@MoData](#): > > Confidence provided through evidence. 🔥 🔥 Totally see this POV. I do think sometimes this has the potential to stall teams… if they wait too long for a direction. But nonetheless, evidence is always a great place to start. ---
**Author:** ![nikhil\_mahen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nikhil\_mahen](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nikhil_mahen)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 2:27am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/7 "2025-11-15T02:27:01Z")
A metric backward approach. Similar to what @MoData mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![nathaliesmith](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/nathaliesmith/32/443_2.png) [@nathaliesmith](https://forum.zurb.com/u/nathaliesmith)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/8 "2025-11-17T16:51:16Z")
Woot! @nikhil_mahen I think a lot of peeps would agree with you. This is definitely a strong starting place. ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ben/32/442_2.png) [@ben](https://forum.zurb.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/9 "2025-11-17T16:56:49Z")
[![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/helio/original/1X/17ae4ea6bd22c40dbf0cc45f7a16eb21bb6f4e9d.jpeg "Sam Altman: “Hire for values first, aptitude second, and skills third.”") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNWNU6SDODQ) The only solution for chaos is alignment. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/bryan/32/448_2.png) [@Bryan](https://forum.zurb.com/u/Bryan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2025, 3:04am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/10 "2025-11-18T03:04:35Z")
Flipping this, as Sam highlights makes sense. But the conditions for a company to do this are often not there… - clear values that guide decisions - fast feedback on performance (like daily and hourly) - roles built to evolve to what is needed - systems that support growth (agency) - culture that rewards learning speed (hourly) - strong internal alignment (doing important things) - confidence in unconventional hires (gonna take some across the chin) If you get these right, hiring for values becomes easier. Most companies are hiring to hit a nail really well (even if it means you leave 60% of someone’s potential sitting). ---
**Author:** ![ben](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.zurb.com/ben/32/442_2.png) [@ben](https://forum.zurb.com/u/ben)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://forum.zurb.com/t/the-trait-that-turns-chaos-into-measurable-progress-is-what/363/11 "2025-12-11T01:12:12Z")
Great insight. I know that the real world is often way more tricky than people make it seem to be, haha