A team uniform makes cooperation visible before the players have earned it.

Matching clothes announce a unity that has not been tested yet. The shirt says these people work together, when in fact they may barely know each other and have not yet found out whether they can pass the ball. Symbols of belonging arrive first and reality catches up later, if it does at all.

When you join something, treat the shared signals as a promise rather than a description. Watch how people behave when cooperating is inconvenient. And if you run a group, notice whether you are building the cooperation or only the badge for it.