The Wisdom of Teams
by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith
(HarperBusiness, 1994)

In subtitling their book "Creating the High-Performance Organization," authors Katzenbach and Smith stress "performance results—that's what teams are all about"

As manufacturing, service, and technology all continue to shift dramatically, performance results will be the determining factor in whether an organization flourishes or fails. The premise of this book is that teams are the key to success in our performance-driven world.

The concept of teams is age-old, and business literature has either promoted or belittled the idea. Even Katzenbach and Smith acknowledge that teams are not the remedy to every organization's problems. Too often, however, teams are overlooked as a way to improve performance. Through a variety of real-world illustrations, the authors demonstrate where and how teams can be most effective. Their argument is compelling; yet, as many teams fail as succeed.

Why?

The simplest answer is that people think they know what a team is; thus, they give little thought to putting a true team together. Katzenbach and Smith construct a "performance curve" that illustrates how a working group evolves through levels of "pseudo-team," "potential team," "real team," and beyond to the "high-performance team." At their best, teams can yield synergistic results, greatly exceeding the expectations of the most committed members. This superlative performance is the result of careful and intentional planning. High-performance teams are not accidental.

Any organization has different "clusters" of people: committees, task forces, councils, classes, work groups, and planning groups. None is specifically a "team." Rather, a team is selected to achieve a particular purpose, one "that is distinctive and specific to the small group, and that requires its members to roll up their sleeves and work together to accomplish something beyond individual end-products." Clear performance objectives define the identity of the team, and team members are selected according to the contributions they will make. Rarely are effective teams self-appointed, nor do they emerge without a clear sense of purpose. Due to their performance-objective nature, most teams are formed for a determined duration.

Teams do not meet the needs of every organization. The authors detail situations where working groups and committees best serve the needs of the organization. However, stories of the success of such companies as Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Knight-Ridder's Tallahassee Democrat in using teams suggest many ways that teams offer clear advantages.

One key to successful teams is leadership. Katzenbach and Smith devote an entire section to team leadership, stressing that the leader needs to highlight the importance of clear and pertinent direction, create an atmosphere of commitment and confidence, remove obstacles and outside interference, and do real work as an equal on the team. When leaders model true team work, they can move potential teams toward becoming real teams. In some cases, they can motivate team members to create high-performance teams.

The wisdom of teams, in short, is that they can be more flexible, responsive to the needs of the task, exciting, and interactive than larger structures. Individuals can contribute directly to the organization. Team members learn more, not just about the task that is before them, but about accountability, networking, cooperation, and continuous improvement. In many cases, team work enhances a member's knowledge of and commitment to the larger organization. Teams build better, more productive work forces in the long run.

In the pursuit of quality, it is imperative that individuals be empowered to grow, to learn, and to perform. Obstacles to growth and performance need to be removed. Katzenbach and Smith detail the many ways in which teams move beyond the obstacles and free the organization to maximize its potential. "Simply put, teams will be the primary building block of performance in the high-performance organization of the future," say the authors.

The Wisdom of Teams is a visionary book that effectively argues the merits of using teams in a wide variety of organizations. The creation of real- and high-performance teams has great potential for the church. As teams are formed, acknowledging the gifts and talents of church and conference leaders, the church becomes more connected. Teams allow more people to engage in real ministry, and the Body of Christ is strengthened. The gospel accounts of Jesus and the twelve — and later the post-Pentecost church — are graphic illustrations of high-performance teams. Teams provide the church with a challenging model for ministry in a complex and fast-changing world.

The guidelines and detailed illustrations throughout the book make team building understandable and highly desirable. Teams are not merely the wave of the future. Unless an organization seriously explores the wisdom of teams today, it may not have a future. The time for teams is now.

Dan R. Dick is a former staff member of the General Board of Discipleship.

(originally posted March 8, 2000)

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