Product Description

To discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance their effectiveness, the authors talked with hundreds of people involved in more than fifty different teams. The Wisdom of Teams includes stories and case examples involving real people and situations and shows why teams will be the primary building blocks of company performance in the future. 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 organisation Successful team leaders do not fit an ideal profile and are not necessarily the most senior people on the team.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33981 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Customer Reviews

A major work on the concept of Teams
To skim read this book provides only a hint of the wealth of common sense it holds. I have just re-read it, fully this time and found the details it gives are so accurate in terms of distinguishing between Groups, Teams and High Performance Teams. The concepts of Purpose, Goals and Approach are fundamental to the success of Teams and are well explained. The section on whether Teams are more effecive than Groups at the senior management level is quite enlightening. I particularly liked the stories, which illustrate the concepts and bring it to life. It is however a long read at 265 pages of what is sometimes repetitive information. But the repetition may be ncessary to bring the point home.

How to form high-performance teams
What's nice about Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith's book is their willingness to name the truth. They know that everyone pays lip service to teams, but few people act like they truly value teams - and fewer still actually know how teams really work. The authors point out where the hype lies and what it is hiding. Then they go a step farther. They provide a manual for creating what executives say they want: high-performance teams. They illustrate their suggestions, insights and guidelines with a lot of stories of real-world teams, focusing on what makes them work. Their rules are so clear that they leave little room for protecting any cherished illusions. As a result, we find that those readers who are willing to act upon the book's counsel will get the most from it. If you're seriously interested in diagnosing nonperforming teams and creating ones that perform, you'll enjoy this book. And, if you think you're already doing everything right, but your team mysteriously just isn't working...this may solve the puzzle.

The truth is out there
I first came across this book a few years ago whilst working for Coca-Cola. I found it useful and informative then. I have recently re-read it as I now work in a different field in the Middle East, with a new set of challenges especially with respect to teams and team working.

It was great to review some of the key issues on team vs work group - and how culturally in some environments work groups are actually highly effective. This book puts it "as it is" - and is a great vehicle to both provoke debate and guide you forward