Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Including stories and case examples involving real people and situations, this text seeks to demonstrate why teams will be the primary building blocks of company performance in the 21st century.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

The authors, who are both consultants, conducted extensive interviews with companies to discover how successful teams are created and sustained. The result is not a research report but a collection of minicase histories and commentary. Some of the findings: Teams respond to performance challenges and not to managers' exhortations for more ``teamwork.'' Organizations committed to high-performance standards and willing to modify individual accountability requirements experience the greatest success with teams. Successful team leaders are not necessarily those with remarkable leadership qualities. Instead, they ``simply need to believe in their purpose and their people.'' Team leaders do real work, remove obstacles, and build trust and confidence. Recommended for larger public libraries and special business collections.-- Andrea C. Dragon, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

The importance of teams has become a clichi of modern business theory, but few have a clear idea of what it means. In this new edition of their best-selling primer, Katzenbach and Smith try to impart some analytical rigor to the concept. Drawing on their experience as management consultants and a plethora of case studies at companies like Burlington Northern and Motorola, they cover such topics as the optimal size of teams, coping with turnover in team personnel and nurturing "extraordinary teams" rather than "pseudo-teams." Reacting against the touchy-feely interpersonal bent of discourse on teams, they emphasize hard-nosed principles of "performance, focus, and discipline," over the softer concerns of "communication, openness and 'chemistry.'" Teams, they argue, gel and achieve not by developing "togetherness," but by tackling and surmounting specific "outcome-based" challenges ("eliminate all late deliveries...within 90 days" rather than the vaguer "develop a plan for improving customer satisfaction."). Some of the authors' recommendations are reasonably precise and practical, but too many are nebulous truisms ("[k]eep the purpose, goals, and approach relevant and meaningful") or weighed down by turgid consultant-ese ("[i]ntegrating the performance goals of formal, structural units as well as special ad hoc group efforts becomes a significant process design challenge"). The case studies are better written, but it's not clear that these inspiring anecdotes of team triumph add up to a systematic doctrine. The book leaves the impression that teams ultimately just have to learn by doing. (Mar.) THE FAMILY DINNER: A Celebration of Love, Laughter, and Leftovers Linda Sunshine and Mary Tiegreen. Clarkson Potter, $16.95 (112p) ISBN 1400045924 An ode to the joys of meatloaf and Campbell's soup, Sunshine and Tiegreen's compact book reveres that American family ritual: the family dinner. The authors-longtime friends and collaborators on books about shoes, dogs and other subjects-give the book a decidedly 1950s feel to play up the nostalgia for a time when Mom whipped up a hearty meal while Dad poured himself a cocktail and loosened his tie to dig in. Slightly idealistic ("family dinners establish the rhythm of family life and define who we are, where we come from, and where we might expect to be going"), the authors root their book in vintage photos and concepts. There's a photograph of a big Italian family-men in sleeveless undershirts and women with their hair done up-seated at a table replete with carafes of red wine; and another of a perky housewife, beaming as she takes a bottle of milk out of the fridge. Mini-essays and quotes from Calvin Trillin, Nora Ephron, Ruth Reichl and others complement the black and white photos. While corny at times, Sunshine and Tiegreen's homage is also wistful and oddly reassuring. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

The Wisdom of Teams is another attempt to explain the team concept. Although there are numerous books on the subject, this volume offers perhaps a different approach. Readers should find this work easy to read and will be pleased that the flow is infrequently interrupted by the authors' need to demonstrate the depths of their theoretical knowledge. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 focuses on understanding teams; Part 2 deals with the process of how teams become teams. This section is enlightening and this reviewer enjoyed the authors' perspectives which represent a new slant on the subject. Part 3 discusses the potential of teams. Much of this section deals with teams at the upper-echelon of the organization, and what their effectiveness and expectations should be. Throughout, the authors present case studies, based on both real and fictitious companies, and continually refer to them as examples. Overall the book is enjoyable, and recommended for anyone who wants to learn about teams. Public, academic, and professional library business collections. S. D. Goldberg; University of New Haven