The Recent History of ACE
by Dr. Troy H. Campbell
ACE is a model for great teams of all types. It’s based on the idea that all great teams, friends, and partners consistently take the time to acknowledge, connect, and explore together.
Though somewhat intuitive, the scientifically based ACE model did not exist until last year, when in reaction to the radical changes caused by the global pandemic, On Your Feet was forced to ask the question: What behaviors matter most to teams?
The Origin Story
In 2020, work teams, friends, and families had their worlds completely changed. Some were struggling from being more apart than ever, while others were struggling from being more together than ever before.
Everyone was trying to figure out how be a “good team.” The teams I consulted for, the students I taught, and the journalists contacting me were all looking for a guide. Yet, they were all just finding isolated insights from psychology or less-than-actionable models in organizational research.
In general, there was not a simple model and toolkit that would guide people through distributed work or really even guide them during “normal” times. People and teams everywhere—from teams of two people to teams of thousands—needed something powerful yet simple enough to use.
In response, On Your Feet created the ACE model. Our goal was to identify the core basic psychological needs and best practices of all great teams. We focused on three key actions—acknowledge, connect, and explore—and created a functional model and toolkit.
The Model
The ACE model is simple and built to be usable and adaptable to tools. But it draws from numerous more complex psychological and organizational theories. For a deeper dive into the bases of the model, we highly recommend doing online searches for “self-determination theory,” “PERMA,” and “need-based theories.”
The model was refined with the help of my colleagues doing psychological research, behavioral science, and academic teaching and, principally, by the team at On Your Feet. It was then immediately road-tested at some of the biggest companies in the world. This testing revealed positive results and new ways to help people understand, tool-ify, and operationalize the concepts of the ACE model to their situations.
The global pandemic forced us to create a model for teams in crisis, but, in doing so, we found a model useful for all teams.
ACE—acknowledging, connecting, and exploring—is essentially what teams need the most. Whether they are distributed or together, in a time of crisis or living through “normal” times, people have a deep-seated need to feel acknowledged and connected and to be able to explore a positive future.
Sometimes ACE happens naturally within teams. But when it doesn’t, the ACE model is there to help. And, even when ACE is occurring naturally, the ACE model is there to make things even better.
Tools & Caveats
To help clients, students, and the general public, we created the ACE model and developed extensive free online toolkits. In these toolkits, we follow the principle of “hold nothing back” and share as much as we can without overwhelming people on the topic. With these toolkits, you can dig deeper into the scientific basis and nuances, such as how there are at least three types of acknowledging: seeing, celebrating, and thanking.
When companies hire On Your Feet, they are hiring us for our expertise with the material and our abilities to design, deliver experiences, and customize the ACE tools for their particular needs and situations.
ACE is a functional model, so it’s not intended to be the final word or a perfect theory. Instead, it’s meant to be usable and effective. We hope it can be just that for you and the world.
