When Teams, When Not?

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. In Chapter 2 the author continues his use of studies done within the intelligence community. He discusses seven forms of collaboration currently used within the community and compares scenarios that require team effort with those demanding individual attention. He also guides the reader in using a simple, two-question model to select the appropriate team structure, and then delineates five different types of teams and situations in which the model can be employed.

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