The Discipline of Teams: A Mindbook-Workbook for ... (ISBN 047138254X)

Skip the text and go to the exercises:
This so-called sequel to The Wisdom of Teams is a "workbook" with exercises. It offers no new insights/guidance for readers of the 2002 paperback update of The Wisdom of Teams. I am a fan of Katzenbach and Smith. As a business consultant, I have introduced clients to their work and worked to adapt and apply their insights. Wisdom of Teams is a great foundation. Their other books--Peak Performance and Why Pride Matters More than Money--offer useful new insights even though they are better understood if readers are familiar with The Widdom of Teams.

Wisdom?:
This book left me wanting more...more of the "Wisdom of Teams" the predecessor of this book. It was bland. They touched on some real world examples but not enough in my opinion. It was a quick read and felt that it could have been deeper. This book could have developed more specifics into developing single-leader or team disciplines.

Sparks great ideas!:
This was a great read! 15 pages into the book I came up with a great idea for my restaurant. I continued to the read the book and within 2 days, I completed it and had written an Executive Summary for my business. Very motivational and provides tons of information. I'm glad I purchased the book.

A very useful sequel to "wisdom of teams":
"The discipline of teams" is the sequel of "Wisdom of teams" by the same author. Wisdom of teams is considered to probably be the standard on teams, so making a sequel that's as good as wisdom, is pretty hard. One of the key messages in the book is that a group of people will need to chose between either the team disciple or the single-leader discipline. It's not just a matter of which one is better since that depends on the type of work. Some work is better done using team disciple and some work is better done using single-leader disciple. The first four chapters were a disappointment for me. The first chapter was talking a lot about the choice between team discipline and single-leader discipline. The second chapter was an introduction to virtual teams. The third and the fourth talked about setting goals and performance of teams and groups. I felt the book didn't really add anything to wisdom or other team literature. Luckily things changed in the 5th chapter when the focus switched from the choice between the two disciplines to how to get the team discipline to work. Chapter 5 talked about the cross-learning that will need to happen within a team to make it work well. The sixth chapter about agreeing on a common purpose and on shared working agreements and chapter 7 talked about the hard topic of shared responsibility and individual responsibility. For me, these three chapters made the book worthwhile and a worthy sequel to Wisdom. Chapter 8 then talked again about virtual teams, chapter 9 about helping teams to get unstuck and the last chapter is about the change (as always...) In the end, I felt the book was worth reading and a worthy sequel to Wisdom of teams. It taught me some more about teams and also gave me some tools and exercises. Worth reading.

A 'must have' for any consultant who works with teams.:
I won't write a detailed review, here's what I found helpful: - the distinction between performance and activity goals. A re-cap of their original research into the five basic elements fo effective group work. 1. Have or develop an understandable charter. 2. Communicate and co-ordinate effectively. 3. Establish clear roles and responsibilities. 4. Create time-efficient processes. 5. Develop a sense of accountability. Clear distinction between when a single leader 'discipline' is warranted or when a real team discipline is warranted. Great re-cap about establishing clear outcomes. Once the background is set-up, it becomes an issue of delving deeper into the application of their recommendations. It is great stuff! But you'll have to buy the book to 'get it'! They do a good job in dissecting how virtual teams are different and similar to teams with co-located members. Finally, I really like their road to getting a team 'unstuck'. Their observation that teams that become stuck revert to single-leader leadership is absolutely true. They posit that it's necessary for a good team to become stuck. As pain as it might be, you have a great opportunity to: - clarify goals - identify missing skills - address attitude issues - grapple with changing members - address time pressures - work on lack of discipline The chapter on change is pretty decent, the rest of the content is golden. I've rated this five stars as it's a must for anyone who works with teams. Damien Faughnan