Synopses & Reviews
The definitive classic on high-performance teamsThe Wisdom of Teams is the definitive work on how to create high-performance teams in any organization. Having sold nearly a half million copies and been translated into more than fifteen languages, the authors clarion call that teams should be the basic unit of organization for most businesses has permanently shaped the way companies reach the highest levels of performance.
Using engaging case studies and testimonials from both successful and failed teamsranging from Fortune 500 companies to the U.S. Army to high school sportsthe authors explain the dynamics of teams both in great detail and with a broad view. Their conclusions and prescriptions span the familiar to the counterintuitive:
Commitment to performance goals and common purpose is more important to team success than team building.
Opportunities for teams exist in all parts of the organization.
Real teams are the most successful spearheads of change at all levels.
Working in teams naturally integrates performance and learning.
Team endings” can be as important to manage as team beginnings.”
Wisdom lies in recognizing a teams unique potential to deliver results and in understanding its many benefitsdevelopment of individual members, team accomplishments, and stronger companywide performance. Katzenbach and Smiths comprehensive classic is the essential guide to unlocking the potential of teams in your organization.
Review
PRAISE for
The Wisdom of Teams:
A thoughtful and well-written book filled with fascinating examples . . . You will be hard-pressed to find a better guide to the essential building block of the organization of the future.” BusinessWeek
An unusually thorough study of teams . . . As well as challenging much conventional wisdom about teams, the book is full of advice about how to organize properand properly effectiveteams.” Financial Times
The Wisdom of Teams captures the power and vision of what great business teams can accomplish. Its stories and lessons should be read and learned.” Senator Bill Bradley
Jon Katzenbach and Doug Smith have lived with high-performance teams for years. Now they share their meticulous observations with all of us in an important and timely book, brimming with useful detail.” Tom Peters
Synopsis
Teams are the key to top performance.
Its long been known that teams, more so than single individuals and large groups, are the best at solving complex problems and delivering results. Great teams enabled Motorola to build the lightest, smallest, and highest-quality cell phones before the advent of the iPhone; Ford to leverage its Taurus brand to become the worlds most profitable car manufacturer; and U.S. coalition forces to claim victory in Iraq during the Gulf War.
But many companies dont have a proper understanding of how to form, organize, and utilize teams, and how teams play a key role in increasing profits, entering new markets, and coming up with new products and innovations, among many other objectives.
In The Wisdom of Teams, authors Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith reveal the traits that make great teams great. Based on conversations with hundreds of people in more than thirty companies, they describe how teams work best and how to enhance their effectiveness.
They reveal:
The basics of when, why, and how to form a team
The most important elements in team success
Who excels at team leadership . . . and why they are rarely the most senior people
Why meaningful, companywide change depends on teams
Comprehensive and time-tested, The Wisdom of Teams is the classic primer on making teams a powerful tool for success in today's global marketplace.
About the Author
Jon R. Katzenbach has been with McKinsey and Company, Inc. for more than three decades, and since the mid-1980s has led the firms worldwide organization performance and change practice. Douglas K. Smith is a leading commentator on organizational performance and change and a former McKinsey and Company, Inc. consultant who has coauthored two previous books: Sources of the African Past and Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented and Then Ignored the First Personal Computer.