J. Richard Hackman

Teams have more talent and experience, more diverse resources, and greater operating flexibility than individual performers. So why do so many teams either struggle unpleasantly toward an unsatisfactory conclusion-or, worse, crash and burn shortly after launch? J. Richard Hackman, one of the world's leading experts on group and organizational behavior, argues that the answer to this puzzle is rooted in flawed thinking about team leadership. It is not a leader's management style that determines how well a team performs, but how well a leader designs and supports a team so that members can managethemselves. According to Hackman, cookie-cutter formulas and prescribed leadership styles often backfire because they place far too much emphasis on the leader as the primary cause of team behavior. InLeading Teams, he identifies the key conditions that any leader can put in place to increase the likelihood of team success-regardless of his or her personality or preferred style of operating. Through extensive research and compelling examples ranging from orchestras to economic analysts to airline cockpit crews, Hackman identifies five conditions that set the stage for great performances: a real team, a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and the availability of competent coaching. Leading Teamsoutlines what leaders can do to structure, support, and guide teams in a way that · enhances the social processes essential to collective work; · builds shared commitment, skills, and task-appropriate coordination strategies; · helps members troubleshoot problems and spot emerging opportunities; and · captures experiences and translates them into shared knowledge. Out of these conditions, Hackman argues, the very best teams emerge-teams that exceed client expectations, grow in capability over time, and contribute to the learning and personal fulfillment of individual members. Authoritative, practical, and astutely realistic,Leading Teamsoffers a new and provocative way of thinking about and leading work teams in any organizational setting. AUTHORBIO:J. Richard Hackmanis the Cahners-Rabb Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. He resides in Bethany, Connecticut, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Setting the Stage for Great Performances

Leading Teams

James A. Burruss

Ruth Wageman

Debra A. Nunes

Guides CEOs on how to create a powerful senior leadership team that achieves the company's shared goals through methods such as assembling the right people for the team and providing support and structure.

What it Takes to Make Them Great

Senior Leadership Teams

using teams to solve hard problems

Collaborative intelligence

J. Lloyd Suttle

Monograph on management approaches to quality of working life in industrial enterprises in the USA - contains definitions of job satisfaction, and covers occupational psychology and occupational sociology in career development, Motivation and job enrichment through the redesign of business organization, the impact thereof on absenteeism, the choice of wage payment systems, intergroup relations, personnel management and supervisory roles, government policy on interest group activities, etc. Bibliography pp. 459 to 477 and references.

Behavioral Science Approaches to Organizational Change

Improving Life at Work

Intelligence professionals are commonly viewed as solo operators. But these days intelligence work is mostly about collaboration. Interdisciplinary and even inter-organizational teams are necessary to solve the really hard problems intelligence professionals face. Tragically, these teams often devolve into wheel-spinning, contentious assemblies that get nothing done. Or members may disengage from a team if they find its work frustrating, trivial, or a waste of their time. Even teams with a spirit of camaraderie may take actions that are flat-out wrong. But there is also good news. This book draws on recent research findings as well as Harvard Professor Richard Hackman’s own experience as an intelligence community researcher and advisor to show how leaders can create an environment where teamwork flourishes. Hackman identifies six enabling conditions – such as establishing clear norms of conduct and providing well-timed team coaching – that increase the likelihood that teams will be effective in any setting or type of organization.. Although written explicitly for intelligence, defense, crisis management, and law enforcement professionals it will also be valuable for improving team success in all kinds of leadership, management, service, and production teams in business, government, and nonprofit enterprises.

Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems

Collaborative Intelligence

An organisation's fate hinges on its CEO—right? Not according to the authors of Senior Leadership Teams. They argue that in today's world of neck-snapping change, demands on leaders in top roles are rapidly outdistancing the capabilities of any one person - no matter how talented. Result? Chief executives are turning to their enterprise's senior leaders for help. Yet many CEOs stumble when creatinga leadership team. One major challenge is that senior executives often focus more on their individual roles than on the top team's shared work. Without the CEO's careful attention to setting the team up correctly, these high-powered managers often have difficulty pulling together to move their organisation forward. Sometimes they don't even agree about what constitutes the right path forward.The authors explain how to determine whether your organisation needs a senior leadership team. Then, drawing on their study of 100+ top teams from around the world, they explain how to create a clear and compelling purpose for your team, get the right people on it, provide structure and support, and sharpen team members' competencies - and your own. Timely and practical, this book enables you to create and sustain a leadership team whose members learn from one another while collaborating to pursue your company's objectives.

J. Richard Hackman

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