I worked at a healthcare communications agency, embedded from day one on a high-profile account we won. After I transitioned off the account, a former teammate confided that she felt unsure about her role. 

Roles are abstract containers that give us safety and orientation. On a large cross-functional team, she was the glue player, and naming that brought relief. 

Two weeks later, the lead gave her special recognition and called her “the glue that holds us together.” That’s narrative systems: how meaning can be abstract before it’s visible.

Coherent teams align at the system level. When they don’t, roles blur and even essential work goes unseen.