New Business Book Summary Available for The Wisdom of Teams

IPSWICH, Mass. - Dec. 9, 2016 - PRLog -- Although team is a commonplace word, a true understanding of the concept of team can be difficult to grasp. In Harvard Business Review Press's The Wisdom of Teams, Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith explore the rich and diverse dynamics of high-performance teams through extensive case studies of both successful and failed teams. Uncovering both common and uncommon findings about teams in their research, the authors believe that most companies do not put the knowledge they have about team success into motion. Teams, they assert, should be the basic unit of performance for all organizations.

The authors argue that:

*Many large corporations overlook the potential impact of high-performance results from teams, despite acknowledging the benefits teams have to offer.

*The most effective teams are defined by their small numbers, members' complementary skills, the commitment to a common purpose and performance goals, the commitment to a common approach, and mutual accountability.

*Teams are so beneficial to organizations that they should be the basic unit of performance.

*Not all people who work together should be classified as a team. Rather, the authors identify five groups that make up a performance curve: working groups, pseudo-teams, potential teams, real teams, and high-performance teams.

*To move from a potential team to a real team, individuals must build trust so they can establish mutual accountability.

*A team leader's job is to believe in the team's common purpose and in each member in order to steer the team toward success.

*For teams to exhibit a strong performance ethic, organizations must deliver superior value to customers, attract returns for owners, and encourage employee growth and earnings.

*Top-management teams can emphasize the importance of real teams throughout the company, and can help organizations achieve high-performance results.

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