Publisher Description
The retired four-star general and and bestselling author of My Share of the Task shares a powerful new leadership model
Former General Stanley McChrystal held a key position for much of the War on Terror, as head of the Joint Special Operations Command. In Iraq, he found that despite the vastly superior resources, manpower, and training of the U.S. military, Al Qaeda had an advantage because of its structure as a loose network of small, independent cells. Those cells wreaked havoc by always staying one step ahead, sharing knowledge with each other via high-tech communications.
To defeat such an agile enemy, JSOC had to change its focus from efficiency to adaptability. McChrystal led the transformation of his forces into a network that combined robust centralized communication (“shared consciousness”) with decentralized managerial authority (“empowered execution”).
Now he shows not only how the military made that transition, but also how similar shifts are possible in all kinds of organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to government agencies. In a world of rapid change, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what they’ve learned.
McChrystal and his colleagues explain their process for helping organizations embrace this model. They also share fascinating research and examples from settings as diverse as emergency rooms and NASA’s mission control center.
Read by Paul Michael. Introduction and recaps read by General Stanley McChrystal.
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"impressive story telling with examples. .. once started its hard to put it down before completing. ."
—
Gitesh (5 out of 5 stars)
About the Authors
Stanley McChrystal retired in July
2010 as a four-star general in the US Army. His last assignment was as the
commander of the International Security Assistance Force and as the commander
of US forces in Afghanistan. He had previously served as the director of the
Joint Staff and as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. He is
currently a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global
Affairs and the cofounder of the McChrystal Group, a leadership consulting
firm. He and his wife of more than thirty years, Annie, live in Virginia.
Chris Fussell is a former Navy SEAL, a managing partner at the McChrystal Group, and the leader of The McChrystal Group Leadership Institute. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, and gives speeches around the country. Chris is an author of the 2015 New York Times bestseller Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World.
Tantum Collins is studying international relations at Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar. He is a colleague of Stanley McChrystal at the McChrystal Group.
David Silverman is an author and the president of American Atheists and one of the best-known atheists in America. Known as “America’s loudest heathen,” a term he embraces proudly, Silverman is passionate about atheism and atheist equality. He has appeared on several television programs for on-air debates, including O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, Scarborough Country, and CNN Paula Zahn NOW.
About Paul Michael
Paul Michael, winner of several Earphones Awards, has also won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has acted on stage, radio, television, and in feature films in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. He has had leading roles in series and made-for-television movies and has guest starred in such series as VIP and Alias. He has been nominated for a Canadian Emmy and has recorded over 150 audiobooks, including the international bestseller The Da Vinci Code.