Name: Extreme Teams
ISBN: 9780814437179

Robert Bruce Shaw

It's time to leave old paradigms behind and embrace a new intensity and collaboration. Don't settle for the common team; create an Extreme Team!

Why Pixar, Netflix, Airbnb, and Other Cutting-Edge Companies Succeed Where Most Fail

Extreme Teams

Nico J

Overall, fantastic and clearly-written. My career has not been long yet - however, most of my time has been spent in scrappy intern positions, and then in stark contrast, monolithic, aging, established companies that embody the absolute worst bureaucracies, hands down. This book was refreshing and I gleaned plenty of knowledge about well-known companies that weren't part of FAANG (excluding Netflix). Notably, the stories of how Whole Foods and Air Bnb were run along with testimonies to the cultures embodied in them were interesting. Patagonia, too, came off as being in a league all on its own. 

Good highlights: Jack Ma's comment on timid company dynamics, with a polite veneer but unable to safely express discontent or disagreement for the good of the business? Spot on. It's a huge problem in large companies today, which are saturated with bloated levels of middle management but still having to dance carefully to the next stone without upsetting another human out of the thousands you interact with. It's a farce, and it's a tiring one, and that is the drag of the bland corporate farm. On top of that, they mention the psychological safety of feeling safe and comfortable to express those ideas - that's where most companies fail. In striving to make things mediocre, they are safe, and remove employees of their shine and ultimately the true, deep vision that other companies nurture. Why do average companies retain average talent? Because pettiness almost always gets in the way of watering the soil of great ideas, passion, and vision. Rather than be right or wrong, it's simply the way many companies are run that either do not have the financial slack to invest in employees fully or are too nervous to do something creative. 

There were a few small grammatical / editing errors; that was the only detractor.

Extreme Teams Why Pixar, Netflix, Airbnb, and Other Cutting-Edge Companies Succeed Where Most Fail

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