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.


From Library Journal
The authors, who are both consultants, conducted extensive interviews with companies to discover how successful teams are created and sustained. The result is not a research report but a collection of minicase histories and commentary. Some of the findings: Teams respond to performance challenges and not to managers' exhortations for more "teamwork." Organizations committed to high-performance standards and willing to modify individual accountability requirements experience the greatest success with teams. Successful team leaders are not necessarily those with remarkable leadership qualities. Instead, they "simply need to believe in their purpose and their people." Team leaders do real work, remove obstacles, and build trust and confidence. Recommended for larger public libraries and special business collections.- Andrea C. Dragon, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, N.J.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.



"This book offers valuable advice in the fine art of building teams for high performance results...The authors provide real and disguised examples...along with specific recommendations...and offer useful ideas for balancing work responsibilities, executive egos, communications, and skills."



"The Wisdom of Teams captures the power and vision of what great business teams can accomplish. Its stories and lessons should be read and learned."



"Teams at any level in the organization make all the difference to performance. This book describes, with inescapable clarity, the discipline necessary for both teams and performance."



"An unusually thorough study of teams...As well as challenging much conventional wisdom about teams, the book is full of advice about how to organize proper--and properly effective--teams."



"A thoughtful and well-written book filled with fascinating examples. . . . You will be hard-pressed to find a better guide to the essential building block of the organization of the future."


Book Description
Teams are fast becoming a flexible and efficient way to enhance organizational performance. Yet today's business leaders consistently overlook opportunities to exploit their potential, confusing teams with teamwork or sharing. In this book, two senior McKinsey & Co. partners argue that we cannot meet the challenges ahead, from total quality to customer service to innovation, without teams. The authors talked with hundreds of people in more than fifty different teams in thirty companies to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance their effectiveness. Among their findings: formal hierarchy is actually good for teams; successful team leaders fit no ideal profile; commitment to performance goals is more important than commitment to team-building goals; top management teams are often smaller and more difficult to sustain; and team endings can be as important to manage as team beginnings. The wisdom of teams lies in recognizing their unique potential to deliver results and in understanding their many benefits.


Book Info
Includes dozens of stories and case examples involving real people and situations. Captures the power and vision of what great business teams can accomplish. DLC: Word groups.


About the Author
Jon R. Katzenbach has been with McKinsey & Company, Inc. for more than three decades, and since the mid-1980's has led the firm's worldwide organization performance and change practice. Douglas K. Smith is a leading commentator on organizational performance and change and a former McKinsey & Company, Inc.

ANNOTATION

The bestselling book that thoroughly explores the remarkable benefits of teams at all levels of the organization. The authors provide dozens of real accounts and case studies that illustrate successes and failures and demonstrate what can be learned from these examples. A must-read guide for business leaders.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Teams are fast becoming a flexible and efficient way to enhance organizational performance. Yet today's business leaders consistently overlook opportunities to exploit their potential, confusing teams with teamwork or sharing. In this book, two senior McKinsey & Co. partners argue that we cannot meet the challenges ahead, from total quality to customer service to innovation, without teams. The authors talked with hundreds of people in more than fifty different teams in thirty companies to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance their effectiveness. Among their findings: formal hierarchy is actually good for teams; successful team leaders fit no ideal profile; commitment to performance goals is more important than commitment to team-building goals; top management teams are often smaller and more difficult to sustain; and team endings can be as important to manage as team beginnings. The wisdom of teams lies in recognizing their unique potential to deliver results and in understanding their many benefits.

SYNOPSIS

Teams are the key to improving performance in all kinds of organizations. Yet today's business leaders consistently overlook opportunities to exploit their potential, confusing teams with teamwork, empowerment, or participative management. In The Wisdom of Teams, two senior McKinsey & Company consultants argue that we cannot meet the challenges ahead-from total quality to customer service to innovation-without teams.

Teams are turning companies around. Motorola a relied heavily on teams to surpass its Japanese competition in producing the lightest, smallest, and highest-quality cellular phones. At 3M, teams are critical to meeting the company's well-publicized goal of producing half of each year's revenues from the previous five years' innovations. And from Desert Storm to life-saving surgeries, Kodak's Zebra Team proved the worth of black-and-white film manufacturing in a world where color was king.

The Wisdom of Teams includes dozens of stories and case examples involving real people and situations. Their accomplishments, insights, and enthusiasm are eloquent testament to the power of teams.

Katzenbach and Smith talked with hundreds of people in more than fifty different teams in thirty companies to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance their effectiveness. Among their findings are elements of both common and uncommon sense. 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 formalhierarchy is actually good for teams -- and vice versa successful team leaders do not fit an ideal profile and are not necessarily the most senior people on the team real teams are the most common characteristic of successful change efforts at all levels top management teams are often smaller and more difficult to sustain despite the increased number of teams, their per formance potential is largely unrecognized and underutilized team "endings" can be as important to manage as team beginnings team produce a unique blend of performance and personal learning results 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 show why team will be the primary building blocks of company performance in the future. Management at all levels -- particularly at the top -- cannot afford to ignore this powerful approach for meeting the competitive challenges of the 1990s and beyond.

FROM THE CRITICS

Business Week - Business Week

A thoughtful and well-written book filled with fascinating examples. . . . You will be hard-pressed to find a better guide to the essential building block of the organization of the future.

Publishers Weekly

The importance of teams has become a clichi 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 ("[k]eep the purpose, goals, and approach relevant and meaningful") or weighed down by turgid consultant-ese ("[i]ntegrating 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. (Mar.) THE FAMILY DINNER: A Celebration of Love, Laughter, and Leftovers Linda Sunshine and Mary Tiegreen. Clarkson Potter, $16.95 (112p) ISBN 1400045924 An ode to the joys of meatloaf and Campbell's soup, Sunshine and Tiegreen's compact book reveres that American family ritual: the family dinner. The authors-longtime friends and collaborators on books about shoes, dogs and other subjects-give the book a decidedly 1950s feel to play up the nostalgia for a time when Mom whipped up a hearty meal while Dad poured himself a cocktail and loosened his tie to dig in. Slightly idealistic ("family dinners establish the rhythm of family life and define who we are, where we come from, and where we might expect to be going"), the authors root their book in vintage photos and concepts. There's a photograph of a big Italian family-men in sleeveless undershirts and women with their hair done up-seated at a table replete with carafes of red wine; and another of a perky housewife, beaming as she takes a bottle of milk out of the fridge. Mini-essays and quotes from Calvin Trillin, Nora Ephron, Ruth Reichl and others complement the black and white photos. While corny at times, Sunshine and Tiegreen's homage is also wistful and oddly reassuring. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The authors, who are both consultants, conducted extensive interviews with companies to discover how successful teams are created and sustained. The result is not a research report but a collection of minicase histories and commentary. Some of the findings: Teams respond to performance challenges and not to managers' exhortations for more ``teamwork.'' Organizations committed to high-performance standards and willing to modify individual accountability requirements experience the greatest success with teams. Successful team leaders are not necessarily those with remarkable leadership qualities. Instead, they ``simply need to believe in their purpose and their people.'' Team leaders do real work, remove obstacles, and build trust and confidence. Recommended for larger public libraries and special business collections.-- Andrea C. Dragon, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, N.J.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

John A. Byrne, Business WeekYou'll be hard-pressed to find a better guide to forming what many consider an essential building block of the organization of the future. — John A. Byrne

Christopher Lorenz, Financial TimesAn unusually thorough study of teamsThe book is full of advice about how to organise proper - and properly effective - ones..  — Christopher Lorenz