This chapter reviews the current discourse on teams. It breaks down the dominant ideas regarding what makes an effective team and examines growing evidence suggesting these ideas may no longer be sufficient in the current climate. Traditional teachings on effective teams emphasize their internal dynamics, which remain important and will be explored further in Chapter Four. However, this chapter shifts attention to the influence of external factors-the "x" in what the authors have termed "x-teams." These are teams that maintain an effective internal environment while also engaging productively with their external environment. To further illustrate their points, the authors compare two teams: one that follows the current dogma of team training and one that considers and adapts to the ever-changing external factors that surround it. The internally-focused team becomes trapped by the common pitfalls faced by many teams, while the team that accounts for the VUCA environment can anticipate and respond to changes, innovate, and leverage resources that only exist outside its internal ecosystem. The chapter concludes with a note on the importance of balance: building strong relationships within a team remains crucial but should not result in such a tightly knit group that it becomes closed off to the external resources and opportunities necessary for success.