Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong

By Frank M.J. LaFasto, Carl E. Larson, Frank M J Lafasto

Book Overview

What are the secrets of successful teams? Why do some teams achieve remarkable success while others fail or are consigned to mediocrity? To find the answers, Larson and LaFasto interviewed a wide range of teams, including the space shuttle Challenger investigation team and executive management teams, and discovered a surprising consistency in the characteristics of effective teams. The authors explore the eight properties of successful teams and examine priorities in building a high-performance team.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803932901
• ISBN13: 9780803932906
• Release Date: August 1989
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Recommend

Book arrived very fast, and brand new (partly because this book is not very useful). Recommend the seller a lot

A Rational Approach to Teamwork

There's an enormous amount of reading material on teams and teamwork and this book is one of the best. Its highly rational approach condenses studies of high performing teams. The authors found eight common characteristics and explain in enough detail why they are important. They include excerpts from the leaders and teams they have studied. They also state that the two most common reasons for team failure are politics and personal agendas. They include a quote from Duke Drake: "The minute the politicians take over and start worrying about what's in it for me, you're dead in the water."

A enjoyable and useful book

These authors studied all different sorts of teams (everything from a Mount Everest expedition and a Notre Dame championship football teams to the group that invented Chicken McNuggets) in order to determine what they had in common. The book is highly readable and describes eight common principles that could be implemented to improve the function of any team. It is also full of interesting comments and stories from the study. I highly recommend the book for any team member (not only managers) since the book also clearly describes how the individal can influence the success of the entire team.

Top-shelf book on teams. A foundation text.

Larson and LaFasto put their outstanding research into easy-to-understand language. The book is foundation reading for executives and team members who want to understand the key variables that spell success for teams. And it's an easy-reading 138 pages presented so anyone (5th grade reading level!) can understand their findings. I know the authors, and have the utmost respect for their scientific methodology and experience. We use the matching team/ leadership assessment and training program to help client organizations plan, build, and fix their teams. Really an excellent reader, and a foundation of our consulting practice.