Teams

Geoff Colvin is the senior editor at large at Fortune Magazine. This book examines the rise of Ai and robotics and how these innovations are reshaping the world. Despite the rise of the machines Colvin uses a host of research to examine what humans do best and how their unique social skills can best be applied. Leadership collaboration and team work will become even more important in this emerging world.

Journalist and Mountaineer, Rebecca Stephens brings together a diverse range of characters and case studies around the theme of getting your strategy done successfully. These include stories from the NHS, education, the Military, global business and mountaineering. Anyone interested in planning, change, project management and strategy will get plenty of food for thought here.

Owen Easterwood is a performance coach with a rich Maori heritage that informs the central premise of this book, that in order to thrive we need a sense of belonging. A philosophy that was a strong influence on Gareth Southgate and the England Football team at the recent European Championships. invaluable for anyone interested in building strong teams and effective organizational cultures.

General McChrystal was the the US Joint Special Forces Commander with responsibility for all US Special Forces Missions.  This book is in part based on his experiences of how US and Allied Special Operations Force units evolved to counter the asymmetrical networked threats of terrorist groups in Iraq.  The teams of teams that resulted, fast flat and enabled by a twenty first century communications architecture and a culture of mission command were dramatically impactful against Al Qaeda.  This same organizational design is how McChrystal and his co-authors argue business can best prepare and be successful in an ever more competitive, fast paced global environment.

Jocko & Leif were US Navy Seal Officers leading a Seal Task Force in the battle of Ramadi in Iraq.  A period of intense sustained combat in a built up area. The book is about the mindset and leadership lessons they learned in the Seals and perfected in combat. Their distillation is designed to be applied to any team or business context where performance matters. The title refers to the principle of individual accountability for every aspect of the team’s mission. Plenty of interest and value here for military and business leaders alike.

A how to guide for developing high performance teams.  The book looks at 7 facets for delivering results; context, mission, talent, norms, buy-in, power and morale and provides guidance and exercises to benchmark and develop the team.  Certainly not the holy-grail its authors might claim but none the less of value to anyone interested in developing high performance organizations.