Adapting to unstable and dynamic environments is a critical challenge for organizations. It requires continuous improvements not only in products and services but also in their overall functioning. Rapid shifting in the context creates a need for individuals and work teams to quickly adapt to new conditions and task demands (e.g. Kozlowski & Bell, 2008). The recognition of this new reality has given rise, in the last decade, to a set of theoretical models and empirical research that seek to explain adaptation (e.g. Rosen et al., 2011). Authors have argued that in order to adapt to unexpected situations, teams need to adjust their cognitive and behavioral processes, and emergent states (e.g., Burke et al., 2006). However, a lack of theoretical and empirical integration among different approaches for studying adaptation has constrained the advancement of this field of research. At the empirical level, there is a lack of experimental research and empirical work on the underpinnings of adaptation as a dynamic process, as well as a lack of longitudinal designs that analyze how team performance and adaptation occurs over time (Baard et al., 2014). Finally, although organizations increasingly rely on multiteam systems (MTS) to accomplish their goals (i.e., “two or more teams that interface directly and interdependently in response to environmental contingencies toward the accomplishment of collective goals”, Mathieu et al., 2001, p. 290), research has not empirically analyzed how teams coordinate their work in order to adapt and perform over time. We propose four interrelated empirical studies, combining research methods and approaches to capture the dynamics of team cognition on team adaptation and performance trajectories. We also investigate team cognition and leadership as two relevant coordinating mechanisms that support team adaptation in multiteam systems. In study 1 we will experimentally manipulate shared mental models (SMM) and team cognitive flexibility in o...