What Operating Rooms Can Teach Leaders About Team Design 

A study of surgeries at a hospital in Madrid and a subsequent pilot program there offers lessons for any organization that relies on fluid, high-pressure teams. Hospitals have invested heavily in technologies to improve operating-room efficiency, yet performance variability persists. Research based on more than 77,000 surgeries in a Madrid hospital and a follow-up pilot program found that team design—not technology—is often the decisive factor. Teams perform better when members have prior experience working together, when staff rotation balances continuity with fresh exposure, and when team composition takes into account gender diversity. The pilot program significantly improved efficiency and reduced both readmissions and incidents in which a mistake or unsafe condition occurred during the surgical process but was detected in time to prevent injury to the patient.