This audiobook emphasizes that teams are not silver bullets or panaceas for solving problems. The author describes the classic pitfall Harvard Business School professors let students fall into when confronted with a problem: call a meeting; create a team or task-force. Then the professor says, “And do what, exactly?” That is the team-building challenge: what do you do, exactly? The author doesn’t like or dislike teams. He believes, as Harvard professors state, that teams are often created as a stop-gap measure and not thought through properly. This audiobook attempts to clear away that clutter and move to the essential steps to create an effective team. In the introduction, the author emphasizes that teams are inherently powerful and can be a tremendous force for change and accomplishment if created and nurtured properly. The author warns that this is an expensive and time-consuming process though, so the leading manager has to determine if the end result will justify the effort. Tom Peters applauds skunk works because they are a small “swat team” with a defined mission on a limited budget. This author shows how to build such a team, the eight criteria for selecting members, and how to have a trial run with limited objectives—much like training camp before the season starts—before attempting a large-scale mission. This is a must listen for all people considering team building, because it has warranted skepticism as well as practical, useful tips and strategies to accomplish team goals.
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