The End of Fierce Individualism: Why Teams Matter More Than Ever (and What You Need to Know About Them)
Bruce Piasecki shares a blueprint of what a well-run team looks like and explains why, now more than ever, the power of teams should trump the appeal of the rugged individualist.
America loves a fierce individualist. And yes, there is something
inspiring about the lone enterpriser and large business executive
blazing a path into the valuable future. And yet, while our culture will
always celebrate the individual, Bruce Piasecki insists that the
business world must acknowledge the truth behind the (alleged) Aristotle
quote: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In other words,
the near future will be all about innovation for sustainable value
creation, led by teams.
“In a world that becomes more complex by the day, ‘command and control’
is out, and employee engagement is in,” says Piasecki, author of the new
book Doing More with Teams: The New Way to Winning (Wiley, March 2013,
ISBN: 978-1-1184849-5-1, $25.00, www.brucepiasecki.com).
“The days when a larger-than-life personality is allowed to steamroll
over the rest of the company are over. This destroys morale, which
destroys results. Teams, not individuals, drive performance.
“And make no mistake,” he adds. “The best organizations, the ones with
real staying power, are fueled by well-run teams.
“Teams are more important than ever because the way we work and do
business has changed,” Piasecki explains. “Within the fierce competition
that is the global economy, companies that get fast results because they
excel at collaboration and innovation will rise to the top and rule the
day. And the ideas that allow an organization to achieve, grow, and
prosper (as opposed to merely survive) will be created only when teams
leverage their combined skills and hold themselves mutually accountable.
No individual, no matter how brilliant, is likely to have the skill set
to take projects from start to finish in this fast-paced and complex
environment.
“The good news is, companies can shatter this individualistic mindset
wherever it occurs and guide employees to a better way to work—while
tapping into and maximizing their raw talent,” Piasecki says. “But
first, they must understand that managing teams, with their web of
hidden politics and complex interplay of human differences, is very
different from managing individuals.”
“The word ‘team’ is more than just a business buzzword,” Piasecki
concludes. “If done well, building and captaining a team will determine
whether you merely survive or instead thrive in this strange new
economy.”
Piasecki speaks from experience. He is a change agent and management
consultant whose firm, AHC Group, Inc. (www.ahcgroup.com),
has now worked for over 100 of the 1,000 largest organizations in the
world.
See the additional material tab for Piasecki's eight insights on teams.
