The Wisdom of Teams

Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith argue that most businesses should organize around teams as their basic building block. They argue from case studies and testimonials of teams that succeeded and failed, in settings from Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Army to high school sports. Among their conclusions: commitment to performance goals and a shared purpose matters more to success than team building does; teams have a place in every part of an organization; real teams are the best spearheads of change at any level; and teamwork joins performance with learning. A team's ending, they add, can need as much management as its beginning. It has sold nearly half a million copies and been translated into over fifteen languages.

ChangeFlow Consulting founder Denise Morris Kipnis included it in an interview among the books she would recommend to young people interested in her career path.