Wisdom of Teams - Softcover

Katzenbach, Jon R.; Smith, Douglas K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0875845819 ISBN 13: 9780875845814

Publisher: HarperBusiness, 1994

Synopsis

The definitive classic on high-performance teams

The 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 teams—ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the U.S. Army to high school sports—the 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 team’s unique potential to deliver results and in understanding its many benefits—development of individual members, team accomplishments, and stronger companywide performance. Katzenbach and Smith’s comprehensive classic is the essential guide to unlocking the potential of teams in your organization.

About this title

About the Author

Jon R. Katzenbach is a founder of Katzenbach Partners, consultants in the areas of team, leadership, and workforce performance. His published works include Real Change Leaders, Teams at the Top, The Work of Teams, and Peak Performance. Mr. Katzenbach and Mr. Smith are both formerly of McKinsey & Company.

From Publishers Weekly

The importance of teams has become a cliche of modern business theory, but few have a clear idea of what it means. In this new edition of their best-selling primer, Katzenbach and Smith try to impart some analytical rigor to the concept. Drawing on their experience as management consultants and a plethora of case studies at companies like Burlington Northern and Motorola, they cover such topics as the optimal size of teams, coping with turnover in team personnel and nurturing "extraordinary teams" rather than "pseudo-teams." Reacting against the touchy-feely interpersonal bent of discourse on teams, they emphasize hard-nosed principles of "performance, focus, and discipline," over the softer concerns of "communication, openness and 'chemistry.'" Teams, they argue, gel and achieve not by developing "togetherness," but by tackling and surmounting specific "outcome-based" challenges ("eliminate all late deliveries...within 90 days" rather than the vaguer "develop a plan for improving customer satisfaction."). Some of the authors' recommendations are reasonably precise and practical, but too many are nebulous truisms ("keep the purpose, goals, and approach relevant and meaningful") or weighed down by turgid consultant-ese ("integrating the performance goals of formal, structural units as well as special ad hoc group efforts becomes a significant process design challenge"). The case studies are better written, but it's not clear that these inspiring anecdotes of team triumph add up to a systematic doctrine. The book leaves the impression that teams ultimately just have to learn by doing.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperBusiness
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0875845819
• ISBN 13: 9780875845814
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304