I must admit that the title Best Team Ever, by David Burkus, sounds more like a book for middle school kids than professionals. Once you add the subtitle, The Surprising Science of High Performing Teams, it does work a bit better. That said, it’s quite a good guide for how teams can maximize their work together, and it was a book I enjoyed.
Burkus talks about all the elements one finds in high functioning teams: psychological safety, common norms and values, clear roles and responsibilities, trust, etc. He does a good job of describing each, substantiating it with an anecdote or piece of research, and creating a fairly simple and user-friendly model for teams to follow. I think this is key. It is complexity that makes it too hard to make good ideas to be actionable, and it needs someone like Burkus or Patrick Lencionni (one of my favourite consultants) to help the rest of us get there. He shares a lot of great ideas separate from the useful structure he sets up.
Here are a few of his good ideas:
“When teams understand not just their roles and responsibilities, but also the emotions and desires of their teammates, they operate at a higher level.” (p.22)
“Cognition-based trust was how well the team trusted that the others were competent and reliable…. Affect-based trust was how much the team genuinely cared for each other as people and wanted to see each other succeed…. Both forms of trust were important, but affect-based trust increased performance significantly more than cognition-based trust.” (p.84)
“We don’t just want to know why what we’re doing is important; we want to know, “Who is served by the work that we do?” That’s because purpose is personal.” (p.121)
A few reflections. First, I think there was far less science than the book’s title suggested. Second, I know I’ve read a lot of these types of books when I discovered that I’d already read or heard many of the stories, anecdotes and research he cites. I’m not sure if that’s a good reflection of my reading or a poor reflection of the echo-chamber of this genre. That said, he’s a consultant who does a good job of being…a consultant! He’s read widely, created a structure to think about leadership, and delivers it clearly, and perhaps more importantly, it’s actionable.
If you’re looking for a useful book in the leadership and teams genre, this is a good one to pick up.
Just Because I Liked It:
- I was fascinated by this article in the Jewish Review of Books about Catholic thinkers who are trying to suggest what a government based on Catholicism would look like. The author does a fine critique, including why it wouldn’t be a happy place for Jews.
- I want to do a plug for a great Purim book, The Queen You Thought You Knew, by Rabbi David Forman. If you haven’t read it, please do so this year! It’s an amazing analysis of Megilat Esther, and you’ll certainly come away with insights you’ve never had before.