Team of Teams
by General Stanley McChrystal
How a special-operations task force rebuilt itself from a command hierarchy into a network to beat a decentralized enemy. McChrystal's lessons, shared consciousness, empowered execution, leaders as gardeners, are drawn from war but written for organizations. It is long and the military detail is extensive; the organizational insight is real.
Read it if…
you lead in a fast-changing environment where the center cannot know enough to decide.
Skip it if…
you lead a small, stable team; the problems here are of scale and speed.
Three things you will actually use
- Share information wider than feels comfortable.
- Push decisions to the people closest to the problem.
- Lead by shaping the environment, not by issuing orders.
Do this first
Identify one decision you currently approve that your team could make with the right information, and hand it over.
Our verdict
A serious book about adaptability; valuable for leaders of complex teams.
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The 48 Laws of Power
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Brilliant, cynical and dangerous in the wrong hands; read as a map, not a creed.
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