Teaming (PDF)

New breakthrough thinking in organizational learning,
leadership, and change

Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and
promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning
challenges today's companies face. Amy Edmondson shows that
organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well the
small groups within those organizations work. In most
organizations, the work that produces value for customers is
carried out by teams, and increasingly, by flexible team-like
entities. The pace of change and the fluidity of most work
structures means that it's not really about creating effective
teams anymore, but instead about leading effective teaming.

Teaming shows that organizations learn when the flexible,
fluid collaborations they encompass are able to learn. The problem
is teams, and other dynamic groups, don't learn naturally.
Edmondson outlines the factors that prevent them from doing so,
such as interpersonal fear, irrational beliefs about failure,
groupthink, problematic power dynamics, and information hoarding.
With Teaming, leaders can shape these factors by encouraging
reflection, creating psychological safety, and overcoming defensive
interpersonal dynamics that inhibit the sharing of ideas. Further,
they can use practical management strategies to help organizations
realize the benefits inherent in both success and failure.

* Presents a clear explanation of practical management concepts
for increasing learning capability for business results

* Introduces a framework that clarifies how learning processes
must be altered for different kinds of work

* Explains how Collaborative Learning works, and gives tips for
how to do it well

* Includes case-study research on Intermountain healthcare,
Prudential, GM, Toyota, IDEO, the IRS, and both Cincinnati and
Minneapolis Children's Hospitals, among others

Based on years of research, this book shows how leaders can make
organizational learning happen by building teams that learn.