what is the rocket model?
The Rocket Model by Gordon Curphy is a practical framework for diagnosing and improving team performance. For a team to succeed, several key elements must be aligned.
By using the Rocket Model, leaders can identify strengths, address gaps, and implement targeted actions to increase team effectiveness and achieve better results. It’s widely used to help teams perform at their best and ensure all members are working in harmony toward common goals.
The Components
Context
The environment, culture, and external factors that influence how the team operates.
Talent
The skills, knowledge, and abilities of team members that drive performance.
Buy-In
The commitment and motivation of team members to support the mission and goals.
Courage
The willingness to take risks, challenge ideas, and make tough decisions.
Mission
Norms
Resources
The tools, time, information, and support available to the team to perform successfully.
Results
The outcomes the team delivers, reflecting its overall effectiveness.
ZERO BARRIERS
NASA has found that 80% of the factors contributing to mission success are not technical, but behavioural – how teams communicate, collaborate, and respond under pressure. It’s often the hidden dynamics, not the obvious skills, that determine performance.
This mirrors the core of The Rocket Model. The model shows that team effectiveness depends on critical behavioural components – clarity of mission, trust, norms, commitment, and the ability to work through conflict. Just like in space missions, teams succeed not simply because they have expertise, but because the underlying dynamics are aligned and healthy.
The Rocket Model helps leaders diagnose these dynamics, strengthen the behavioural foundations, and create teams capable of consistently high performance – even under pressure.
TEAM ASSESSMENT SURVEY
The Rocket Model works by evaluating a team across its eight key components. Using a structured assessment survey, each team member provides feedback on how well the team is performing in these areas.
The survey identifies strengths, gaps, and misalignments, giving leaders a clear picture of where the team is excelling and where it may be held back. By quantifying perceptions and behaviours, the Rocket Model helps teams understand the dynamics that impact their effectiveness.
TEAM IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES
Once the assessment is complete, the Rocket Model guides targeted improvement activities to strengthen team performance. Leaders can address gaps by clarifying the mission, aligning roles with talent, fostering buy-in, building courage to make decisions, refining norms, and ensuring resources are available.
Activities may include workshops, coaching, team-building exercises, or process improvements. By focusing on the specific components that need attention, teams can work more cohesively, overcome obstacles, and consistently achieve better results.
The Rocket Model
Watch this video to find out more about The Rocket Model.
