For years, the synchronization of brainwaves between collaborating partners has been treated as a neural signature of effective teamwork — a measurable harmony presumed to reflect minds working well together. A new study from Nanyang Technological University quietly dismantles that presumption, finding that pairs whose brains aligned most strongly during a cooperative puzzle task actually performed worst on its most demanding moves. The discovery invites a deeper question: what if neural convergence marks not the achievement of understanding, but the labor of reaching for it?