An Integrated, Process Oriented Multilevel Theory of Team Adaptation

Abstract

Uncertainty is inherent to the team adaptation process. Stereotypically, team adaptation is operationalized as a response to a negative, external environmental occurrence. This chapter establishes the foundation for a more expansive and integrated multilevel theory of team adaptation to uncertainty. The authors suggest that uncertainty can be created and increased cognizantly by individual actors, can emerge endogenously, and can be positively valent. These principles undergird a process-oriented multilevel theory of team adaptation. First, the authors discuss the implications of teams engaging in deliberate, positive, internal uncertainty creation processes for the long-term development of team-level adaptive capabilities. Next, the authors propose a model of uncertainty that addresses the compilational process through which team members respond to adaptive performance episodes. Conceptualizing the team adaptation process occurring through compilational, patterned networks of interaction advances a model of adaptation that advances theory beyond simplistic compositional models that do not adequately capture the multilevel nature of adaptation.