The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization - Hardcover

Katzenbach, Jon R.; Smith, Douglas K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0875843670 ISBN 13: 9780875843674

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 1992

Synopsis

Teams -- the key to top performance

Motorola relied heavily on teams to surpass its competition in building the lightest, smallest, and highest-quality cell phones. At 3M, teams are critical to meeting the company's goal of producing half of each year's revenues from the previous five years' innovations. Kodak's Zebra Team proved the worth of black-and-white film manufacturing in a world where color is king.

But many companies overtook the potential of teams in turning around tagging profits, entering new markets, and making exciting innovations happen -- because they don't know how to utilize teams successfully. Authors Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith talked with hundreds of people in more than thirty companies to find out where and how teams work best and how to enhance their effectiveness. They reveal:

The most important element in team success
Who excels at team leadership ... and why they are rarely the most senior people
Why companywide change depends on teams ... and more

Comprehensive and proven effective, The Wisdom of Teams is the classic primer on making teams a powerful tool for success in today's global marketplace.

About this title

About the Author

Jon R. Katzenbach has been with McKinsey & Company, Inc. for more than three decades, and since the mid-1980's has led the firm's worldwide organization performance and change practice.

Reviews

The authors, who are both consultants, conducted extensive interviews with companies to discover how successful teams are created and sustained. The result is not a research report but a collection of minicase histories and commentary. Some of the findings: Teams respond to performance challenges and not to managers' exhortations for more "teamwork." Organizations committed to high-performance standards and willing to modify individual accountability requirements experience the greatest success with teams. Successful team leaders are not necessarily those with remarkable leadership qualities. Instead, they "simply need to believe in their purpose and their people." Team leaders do real work, remove obstacles, and build trust and confidence. Recommended for larger public libraries and special business collections.
- Andrea C. Dragon, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0875843670
• ISBN 13: 9780875843674
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 291