Most organizations obsess over strategy, talent, and effort. But Karina Mangu-Ward argues that the real action is happening somewhere else: inside teams. In this episode of _At Work, Under Pressure_, Jessi Beyer sits down with Karina Mangu-Ward, partner at August and author of _Teams That Meet the Moment_, to talk about decision-making, hierarchy, politics, psychological safety, trust, belonging, and the everyday ways teams organize, decide, and learn. Karina explains why teams often get trapped in decision swirl, why “just have one decision-maker” is not enough, and how practices like rounds, starting proposals, “safe to try,” and naming trade-offs can help teams move forward with more clarity and less fear. She also connects broken decision-making to the psychological experience of work, including how talented people start leaning out when they feel excluded from the decisions that affect them. Jessi and Karina discuss: • Why better strategy, better talent, and more effort are not enough when team practices are broken • How lowercase-p politics and hierarchy can either help teams or exhaust them • Why decision-making is one of the most important everyday muscles organizations need • How “safe to try” helps teams move without waiting for perfect certainty • Why leaders build trust by explaining the logic behind hard decisions • How exclusion from decision-making can erode belonging, engagement, and mental health This episode is for executives, team leaders, consultants, HR leaders, organizational development professionals, people managers, and anyone trying to help teams make better decisions in complex, high-pressure environments. Because the quality of work does not just depend on the strategy. It depends on whether the people doing the work can organize, decide, and learn together when the moment demands it.