Teams That Work and Those That Don't

Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems, is an eleven-chapter book written by J. Richard Hackman, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University, and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in May of 2011. Although based on the latest scholarly research, the book is written for both the experienced and novice team leader, and can be used as well in academic courses that examine groups and teams. The work comprises three sections. The first, "The Challenge and Potential of Teams," explains the general structural components of a team and the benefits and pitfalls of each. The second part, "Six Enabling Conditions," elaborates in detail on six environmental conditions that can help to produce successful team collaboration. The third part, "Implications for Team Leaders and Organizations," discusses specific methods leaders have adopted, or avoided, to foster collaboration and improve the quality of their teams' work, including what the author calls the 60-30-10 rule. Chapter 1 explores underlying reasons why some teams succeed and others do not. The author, drawing from team-based simulations that pit defense and intelligence professionals against each other in mock terrorist attacks, offers four primary reasons: (1) the strategic differences between offense and defense, (2) teams' identification and utilization of specific individuals' expertise, (3) the systematic avoidance stereotypes, and (4) the development of clearly defined, situation-appropriate strategies.

• Fostering collaboration
• Business communication
• Organizational behavior
• Teams
• Corporate strategy
• Management