This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought Vice President and Publisher: Cynthia A Zigmund Editorial Director: Donald J Hull Senior Acquisitions Editor: Jean Iversen Cook Senior Project Editor: Trey Thoelcke Interior Design: Lucy Jenkins Cover Design: Scott Rattray Design Cover Photo: Beau Regard/Masterfile Typesetting: the dotted i © 2001 by Lisa Gundry and Laurie LaMantia Published by Dearborn Trade, a Kaplan Professional Company All rights reserved The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher Printed in the United States of America 01 02 03 10 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gundry, Lisa K., DATEBreakthrough teams for breakneck times : unlocking the genius of creative collaboration / Lisa Gundry, Laurie LaMantia p cm Includes index ISBN 0-7931-4273-3 (hdbk) Teams in the workplace Industrial management I LaMantia, Laurie II Title HD66 G86 2001 658.4′036—dc21 2001000682 Dearborn Trade books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs For more information, please call the special sales department at 800-6219621, ext 4410, or write to Dearborn Financial Publishing, Inc., 155 N Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606-1719 Praise for Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times “If committees were the curse of the machine age, creative teams are the basis for victory in the information age Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times can help any team reach its full potential, by applying the core principles and practical tools in this useful guidebook.” —Rosabeth Moss Kanter Bestselling author of Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow “If you believe in the power of teamwork, you will enjoy the ten principles in this book The authors explore the importance of teams in a refreshing way that is relevant in today’s fast-paced world They touch concepts that are applicable to leaders and teams in any organization.” —Jack M Greenberg Chairman and CEO McDonald’s Corporation “I am placing this in my well-referenced creativity tool kit This book is loaded with recipes for the team seeking a new level of performance and satisfaction When you mix together the appropriate ingredients (from the book), you are able to provide the most important meal for the creatively starved team—breakfast!” —Gail Tate Project Management Director Lucent Technologies, Inc “Success in today’s knowledge economy requires tapping into the creative talents of teams Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times provides managers with simple but innovative tools to optimize team creativity and performance These are principles that can be applied to project teams assembled together to solve a problem or deliver a client solution or for permanent teams that want to take their performance to the next level.” —Heather Bock, Ph.D Manager, Executive Management Solutions Team Arthur Andersen “It’s obvious that Laurie and Lisa have practiced innovation in real world business environments as evidenced by their short stories and Tools You Can Use applications As a person with primary responsibility for strategic development in my organization, I found myself reading and taking a lot of notes.” —George Babish VP of Imagineering and Strategic Development YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago “It is impossible these days for any organization to survive without a dynamic team to nurture and develop any endeavor This book is a source of inspiration and guidance for the gogetter in all of us.” —George Zaharoff Chairman and Creative Director The Zaharoff Companies “Collaboration is a thing, collaborating is a process Collaborating implies involvement and commitment with accountability for tactical implementation and results It should be a positive experience, which brings out the best in people, and the prerequisite is a positive attitude from all team members The authors have developed an outstanding set of guidelines to achieve successful results through collaborating Starting with, if we really want collaboration, we need to get over the mindset of getting people to what we want them to do.” —Tom Howe Chairman of the Board Jays Foods “The authors pave a pathway for team building that allows for creative collaboration without placing limits on what a team should be This book provides tremendous insight into building breakthrough teams and should be required reading for team members at all levels.” —Teresa Lovely Manager–Financial Services Interlake Material Handling, Inc “Collaboration is the essential nature of innovation, and the authors’ ten principles for creative collaboration are clear and powerful Filled with practical tools and guidance, this book actually gets to the core of working together more effectively.” —Joyce Wycoff Cofounder of the InnovationNetwork DEDICATION For Peter and Marc, whose love sustains our efforts CONTENTS Foreword ix Acknowledgments xiii Preface xvii GETTING INTO A BREAKTHROUGH FRAME OF MIND DREAM TEAMS What Makes Them Work? PRINCIPLE ONE Come Together for a Meaningful Reason 21 PRINCIPLE TWO Co-Create an Understanding of the Vision 43 PRINCIPLE THREE Choose the Culture You Want 61 PRINCIPLE FOUR Engage in Courageous Speech and Action 89 PRINCIPLE FIVE Cultivate Shared Responsibility and Shared Ownership 107 PRINCIPLE SIX Explore Risk Taking 129 PRINCIPLE SEVEN Govern from Within 145 PRINCIPLE EIGHT Build Resiliency Muscles 171 PRINCIPLE NINE Make Change Happen 193 PRINCIPLE TEN Play and Rejuvenate 213 PUTTING THE PRINCIPLES IN ACTION What You Can Do 227 OUTTAKES Some Parting Thoughts 239 vii viii Contents Resources 247 Endnotes 253 Index 255 About the Authors 263 FOREWORD Jerry Hirshberg Teams Teamwork Teamplay What these words immediately inspire? Yeah, yeah, we know Groupthink Forced congeniality Imposed work styles Saluting the common denominator and submerging yourself in the prevailing consensus Carrying your load for the greater good Suppressing any quirky impulses, getting in line and toeing the line, remembering always the solemn Star Trek credo, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.” Along with such equally abused and overused business platitudes as out-of-the-box thinking and customer-driven innovation, the mere mention of teamwork promotes an automatic tuning out While the term continues to have positive implications when connected with military leadership, factory work, and competitive sports, it hardly seems to suggest a management strategy that fosters intuitive impulses or creative departures Yet an examination of the history of breakthrough thinking reveals that divergent thought can indeed emerge from certain kinds of teams Even the romantic notion of the solitary genius laboring in utter isolation is yielding to a more realistic ix x Foreword picture of the myriad ways highly gifted individuals seek out a community of interactive relationships for creative ideation The authors of this important book have focused on ways that collaboration and teamwork can be used to ignite rather than snuff out original thought They have broken through the myth that all teams operate according to the same basic rules, and have instead generated a fresh set of strategies concentrated on an all-important end result: ideas In so doing they have necessarily broadened and redefined what is generally meant by collaboration, leadership, and sound management practices Conventional teams know precisely where they are headed from the outset, with a clear map of how to get there They thrive by mastering what has worked in the past Perhaps the most significant differentiating feature of breakthrough teams, however, is that they cannot possibly know the final form of their labors until they discover it This places discovery as the prime priority of effective teamwork when breakthroughs are needed The process of discovery requires a fresh look at everything held sacrosanct in organizational management, from the role and style of meetings to what is meant by leadership Using what has worked in the past simply will not get us to the future There is a central and powerful assumption underpinning the ten principles introduced by Dr Gundry and Ms LaMantia It is that creative thought is not the sole province of a handful of uniquely gifted individuals I share with the authors the belief that all persons given an appropriately conceived and supportive environment have the capacity for innovative thought This has served as the foundation for my own work both as a creative design executive in industry and as an author of the book I wrote on the subject, The Creative Priority (Harper Business) Resources 251 • The Innovation Network is dedicated to building communities of innovation Check them out at • The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is an organization dedicated to proving leadership programs for the benefit of society worldwide Check them out at • Set-breaking magazines: • Fast Company • Business 2.0 • Utne Reader Breakthrough Experiences The following are some ideas to make unexpected connections and feed your brain new experiences and fresh perspectives Try: • Watching a movie together and talking about what connection people made between the movie and the team • Having an art day where you experiment with paint, clay, and other media to revamp your work chair or garbage can • Inviting everyone to a wine tasting, and trying to describe the wine the way a great connoisseur would • Reviewing a new book once a week, presented by a different member of the team • Taking a field trip to a museum • Having a family day where the kids come to meetings with you ENDNOTES Getting into a Breakthrough Frame of Mind Gregerman, Alan, Dr., Lessons from the Sandbox, Contemporary Books, 2000 Principle One Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2000, page A1 Tuckman, B.W “Developmental Sequences in Small Groups,” Psychological Bulletin, June, 1965: pp 384–399 Principle Three We use e-valuation to differentiate between traditional evaluation (numbers based assessment) and collaborative e-valuation (values based assessment) Kohn, Alfie Punished by Rewards Houghton House, 1993 Positive Impact, Inc Skokie, Ill kim@moldofsky.com 253 254 Endnotes Principle Four Concept extracted from Leading with Heart by Coach K Principle Five Krzyzewski, M., & Phillips, D.T (2000) Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life Warner Books Principle Six Fisher, R., and Ury, W (1981) Getting to Yes, Houghton Mifflin Concept described in Collins, J.C., & Porras, J I (1997) Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies Harperbusiness Principle Eight Albom, M (1997) Tuesdays with Morrie Doubleday Senge, P (1990) The Fifth Discipline Doubleday Gendlin, Eugene (1981) Focusing Bantam Books Covey, Steven First Things First Based on conversations with Leslie Dagostino, internal Lucent consultant Chappell, T (1993) The Soul of a Business Bantam Books Hirshberg, Jerry (1999) The Creative Priority HarperPerennial Principle Ten See the Blue Man Group in Chicago, New York, Boston, and Las Vegas INDEX A.T Kearney, 15 Accountability, 19 Action(s), 92–101 accounting, 92–93, 105 courageous team, 94–100 Adams, Abigail, 163 Aesop, 145 Albom, Mitch, 171 Allen, Woody, 89 Ambiguity, 114, 115 Anna and The King, 177 Apple Computers, 15–16 Ardill, Ralph, 147–53 Arthur Andersen, 102 Assessment, 76 Assumptions, questioning, 12 Attack and defend approach, 164 Attitude, 14 Baldwin, Christina, 194 BATNA, 133 Baudelaire, Charles, 225 Be curious, not furious tool, 186–87 Bender, Betty, 21 Bentley College, 48 Blaming, 98, 178 Blue Man Group, 222–24 Blue Sky Center for Creativity and Innovation, 22–26, 27, 29 Body Shop, The, 27 Booth, Jonathan, 198–203 Boredom, 205 Bradley, Omar Nelson, 56 Bradstreet, Anne, 210 Brainstorming, 49, 71, 155–56 Brande, Dorothea, 87 Braveheart, 28 Breakthrough experiences, 160–61 frame of mind, 1–7 teams, 43, 238 Briefs, 13 See also Visioning/vision statements Buber, Martin, 188 Buddy system tool, 165–66 “But why?” tool, 132–33 Carliner, Saul, 47–51 Celebrations, 190, 218–19 Change, 117, 119–20, 193–212 as core competency, 194–96 Eureka Communities and, 208–10 healing and, 175–76 255 256 Index Change, continued Jonathan Booth on, 198–203 management, 211 practicing, 196 proactivity, 193, 204 reinvention, 198 signs showing need for, 205–7 Chappell, Tom, 188 Chavez, Cesar, 208 Chavez, Helen, 208 Chicago Bulls, 10 Children of the Rainbow, 210 Choice, 22, 23, 31–33, 35, 100, 228 Churchill, Winston, 92 Climate of exploration, 139–40 Clue please tool, 91 Code of conduct, 93, 96 Collaboration, 11–15, 19, 67–69, 161, 183–84, 201–2 collaborating behaviors, 70–71 connectedness and, 74–75 courage and, 97–98 decision making, 146, 153–57 entrepreneurial teams and, 116 leadership and, 229–36 methodology and, 146, 149–51 rewards and, 84 skills, 162 slowing down conversation and, 76 Comic relief, 220 Communication, 14, 79, 134 and collaborative process, 161–62 tool, 178 Community leadership, 47–51 organization objectives, 49 risks, 50 skills and knowledge needed for, 50 Connection, 17, 33, 41, 134 mind-body, 162–63 Conversation, slowing down, 75–76 Courage, 89–105 action accounting, 92–93 entrepreneurs and, 101–4 integrity, 90 team actions and, 94–100 values and, 99 Covey, Steven, 92–93, 185 Creative Priority, The (Hirshberg), 216 Creativity assumptions as restraint on, 12 Blue Man Group and, 222–24 in climate of exploration, 139–40 corporate antibodies and, 117 creative collaboration, 67–69 and innovation enhancement, 159–60, 188 undermined by rewards, 84 Credo, 79–83, 87, 155 Crossing the Chasm (Moore), 55 Culture, 61–87, 160 collaborating behaviors, 70–77 collaborative team characteristics, 67–69 creating as a team, 62–63, 64–66 disinheriting old culture, 63 e-valuation system, 82–83, 87 five finger contract tool, 85–87 mind dump tool, 70 rewards notion, 83–85 space out tool, 73 team credo, determining, 78–82 Curiosity, 146, 148, 185–86 Davis, Gray, 208 Decision making, collaborative, 146, 153–57 Defending, 98, 164 Destiny See Governing from within Detachment, 184, 228 Dialogue, 178 Disconnection, 43 Disengagement/disinterest, 205–6 Distance education, online, 16 Distractions, 221 Diversity, 13–14, 22, 35–37, 41 Diversity Game®, 159 Dixon, Jack, 26 Doble, J Frank, 66 Doctorow, E.L., 157 Doubt, Index Douglass, Frederick, 191 Dream teams, 9–20 common characteristics of, 18–19 connection, 17 Diggi Thomson on, 11–15 diversity, 17 Lynne O’Shea on, 15–18 Du Autermont, Harriet, 59 Ducharme’s Precept, 139 Due diligence, 34 Economic value added, 54 EDS, 15 Einstein, Albert, 51, 69, 119 Elevator test, 55–56 Eliot, T.S., 46 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 43, 236 Emotional bank account, 92–93 Emotional reactions, 185 Encouragement, 74 Enesco Group, Inc., 22–26, 27, 29, 30 Entrepreneurial mindset, 108, 196, 228 Entrepreneurs, 30, 114–16 Environment, 164–65 redesigning office, 197 Envisioning, 46–47 see also Vision/vision statements convening the team, 53–55 personal reflection, 51–53 Erhard, Werner, 40 Ernst & Young, 102 Eureka Communities, 208–10 E-valuation, 79, 82–83, 87 Exhaustion, 217 Expectations, 2–3, 6, 13 avoiding overdefining, 116 co-creation of, 32 letting go of, 72 Experimentation mentality, 228 Exploration climate of, 139–40 personal, 159 Failure, fear of, 103–4 Farson, Richard, 15–16 257 Fast Company, 149 Fear(s), 2, dealing with, 138–39 defining, 130–33 Feedback, 82 Financial objectives/goals, Five finger contract tool, 85–87 Flow, 223–25 Focusing, 178 Ford, Henry, 133 Formulas, 116 Frame of mind, 1–7 France, Anatole, 18 Frost, Robert, 91 Fun Factory, 24–25 Future look tool, 207 Gaines, Frank, 47 Gandhi, 212 Gateway Computers, 18 Give me five tool, 58 Goals company vs individual, 37–38, 66 evaluation of, 82–83 Gordimer, Nadine, 128 Gore, W.L., 65–66 Governing from within, 145–70 breakthrough experiences, 160–61 collaborative decision making, 153–57 committing to, 163–64 comprehensive skill building, 158 creativity and innovation enhancement, 159–60 Imagination, Ltd and, 146–53 personal exploration, 159 whole team skill building, 158 Governing guidelines, 79 Grace of Great Things, The (Grudin), 104 Grant Thorton Executive Woman of the Year Award, 102 Grau, Amy, 23, 24, 25 Gregerman, Alan, 258 Index Grigoriou, Jim, 33–34 Group development, Tuckman’s model of, 31 Growth, 126–27 committing to personal, 167 risk and, 129 Grudin, Robert, 104 Gwaltney, Julie, 23, 25 Gyorgi, Albert Szent, 229 Hart, Mickey, 34 Healing, 172, 175–77 See also Resiliency Heifetz, Ronald, 231–32 Heraclitus, 203 Hermann Brain Dominance Inventory, 37, 159 Hierarchy, 19 Hirshberg, Jerry, 189, 216 Hock, Dee, 13, 140 Hugo, Victor, Hutsell, Jeff, 24 Huxley, Aldous, 215 Idea interview tool, 113 Imagination, Ltd., 146–53, 162 Initiative, 21, 145 Innovation, 30, 62, 116, 117, 184, 195 enhancement of, 159–60, 188 risk taking and, 129 Inquiry, 185–86 Integrity, 90, 96, 101, 105, 136, 163 Interconnectedness, 74 Internal exploration, 227 Internal motivation, 181 Internet culture, self-organizing systems and, 29 Introspection, 146, 163 Intuition, 52 “I” perspective, 178 I/Thou concept, 188–89 Jamming (Kao), 113 Janninck, Mary, 23, 24, 25 Judgment, 76 Kao, John, 113 Keightley, Alan, 61 Killer phrases, 75 Kohn, Alfie, 84 Laing, R.D., 193 Laughter, 220 Leadership advice, 136 and collaboration, 229–36 culture and, 64–66 by example, 101–4 facilitating team success, 116–18 successful, 203 Learning, and resiliency, 187 Les Miserables (Hugo), Lessons from the Sandbox (Gregerman), Letting go, 5, Listening, 184–85 active, 178 curiosity vs animosity, 72–73 generously, 73–74 identifying resistance and, 134–35 judicious evaluation, 76 slowing down conversation and, 75–75 Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 203 Long Walk to Freedom, A (Mandela), 198 “Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, The,” 46 Lucent Technologies, 114, 215 McAlindon, Harold, 85 MacKenzie, Gordon, 83 Maher, Bill, 123 Manager, culture and, 64–66 See also Leadership Mandela, Nelson, 198 Marston, Ralph, 142 Maurer, Lea, 135–38 Meaningfulness, 21–41, 121 allowing for choice, 31–33 being brave of heart, 28 Index diversity and, 35–37 Enesco Group, Inc., 22–26, 27 fitness between goals and values, 37–38 Jim Grigoriou and, 33–34 motivation errors, 38–39 passion, connecting with, 30–31 self-organization and, 28, 29 source of meaning, 26–28 Meditations Divine and Moral (Bradstreet), 210 Mental muscles, 180–90, 228 Merck and Co., 27 Metaphors, 44–45, 52 Millennium Dome, 146, 152 Mind-body connection, 162–63, 188 Mind dump tool, 70 Mind meld tool, 127–28 Minneapolis Jewish Federation, 49–50 Mission statements, 27, 59 Mistakes, 140–41, 142 Moldofsky, Kim, 85 Moore, Geoffrey, 55 Motivation, 38–39 internal, 181 for rewards vs values, 84 Multidimensional structures, 19 Natori, Josie, 129 Nature, 220 Need identifying, 43 filling, 111, 118 “Need for change” assessment, 204–5 Neighborhood Civic Leadership Program, 209 Net present value, 54 Nissan Design International, 216 Nizer, Louis, 223 Nonengagement, 43 Nonprofit Resource Center, 48 Objectives, 33 Objectivity, 76–77, 126, 156, 184 O’Connor, Marie, 39 O’Neil, George, 109 259 Online distance education, 16 Openness, 3–4, 72, 99 Operating guidelines, 81–82 Opportunity reviewing, 3, statement, 27 Orbiting the Giant Hairball (MacKenzie), 83, 220 O’Shea, Lynn, 15–18 Outcome, detaching from, 71–72 Outside facilitators, 49, 57, 157, 177–78 Outstanding Recycling Business Award, 102 Ovid, 142 Owner mentality, 110–11, 118 Ownership, shared, 107 Parker, Charlie, 169 Passion, 14, 21, 22, 30–31, 41, 100 to fill a need, 111 risk and, 129 Passivity, 43 Path of least resistance, 206 Patience, 156 Patton, George S., 36 Pay-for-performance, 84 Personal exploration, 159 Personal norms, 33, 34 Personal responsibility, 71, 89, 123–25, 159, 163 see also Shared responsibility Perspectives, divergent, Peters, Tom, 213 Pettiness, 206 Pharmaceutical Technical Operations Finance, 199 Picture this tool, 40 Piper, Elyse, 23, 24, 26 Play and rejuvenation, 190, 213–26 Blue Man Group and, 222–24 creating a space for, 215–16 getting to flow, 223 ideas for, 218–21 Politics of Experience, The (Laing), 193 Poole, Mary Pettibone, 220 260 Index Positive Impact, Inc., 85 Possibilities, 139–40, 161, 181 openness to, 3–4, 72 undermined by rewards, 84 Power, 100 Poyer, Joe, 236 Prather, Charles W., 129 Precious Moments®, 23 Preparedness, 237 Proactivity, 180, 193, 204 Problem, reviewing, 3, Product relaunch, 12 Punished by Rewards (Kohn), 84 Purpose, understanding, 43, 117 Reaffirmation, 104 Reality, creating and influencing, Receptiveness, Recognition, 14 Reflection, personal, 51–53, 80, 183 Reinvention, 198 Rejuvenation See Play and rejuvenation Resiliency, 171–91 building a resilient team, 179–80 collaboration, 183–84 detachment, 184 healing, 172, 175–76 inquiry (curiosity), 185–86 internal motivation, 181 I/Thou concept, 188–89 learning, 187 listening, 184–85 play and celebration, 190 possibility, 181 proactivity, 180 reflective behavior, 183 respect, 189 self-managed teams and, 176–78 sickness as a sign, 174–75 time, 189 trust, 190 well-roundedness, 187–88 “we mentality,” 183 wholeness, 173–74 Resistance, 133–35 Respect, 97, 136, 189 Responsibility See Personal responsibility; Shared responsibility Return on investment, 54 Rewards, 83–85 Rilke, Rainer Maria, 205 Risk/risk taking, 75, 103–4, 112, 119, 129–43, 148, 159, 228 climate of exploration, creating, 139–40 definition of, 133 fear, 130–33, 138–39 fictional case studies, 140–42 resistance and, 133–35 teaching (Lea Maurer and), 135–38 Robbins, Anthony, 53 Rogers, Will, 227 Room with a view tool, 196–98 Roosevelt, Eleanor, 101 Root cause analysis, 132 Sabbaticals, 221 Saint-Exupery, Antoine de, 28 Salon Selectives, 11–12 School for Management and Strategic Studies, 15–17 Seasoning tool, 219 Secker, Pete, 23 Self-awareness, 159 Self-discovery, 167–68 Self-governance, 146 Self-managed team, 175–78 Self-organization, 28, 29 diversity and, 35 Self-reaffirmation, 104 Self-serving interest, 39 Self-understanding, 167, 168–69 Serlin, Marsha, 101–4 Service, relaunch of, 12 Shared ownership, 107 owner mentality, 110–11 Shared responsibility, 100, 107–28, 145 See also Personal responsibility approaching purpose as a business, 108–10 choice and, 121, 122 Index corporate antibodies, 117 cultivating, 119–22 entrepreneurial mindset, 108, 118–19 growth and, 126–27 Jerry Zielinski and, 114–16 meaningfulness and, 121 objectivity and, 126 owner mentality, 110–11, 112–13 participating as co-creator, 118 providing needed service, 111 risks, 112 system thinking, 125 Sickness, 174–75 Skill building, 158, 162 Smart talk tool, 181–82 Soul of a Business, The (Chappell), 188 Space out tool, 73 Speech, 89–90, 93, 94–95 Spontaneity, 221 Sprtel, Joanna, 235 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 166 Strain, Douglas, 16 Strategic plans, Synchronicities, 5, System thinking, 77, 125 Team credo, 78–82, 87,155 Team governing guidelines, 79 Team leaders, 13, 14, 19 Teamwork methodology for, 146 resiliency and, 179–80 Thinking modes, 37 Thomson, Diggi, 11–15 Time, 189 Time out tool, 214–15 Tin Cup, 90 Tomlin, Lily, 165 Trust, 33, 94–95, 190 Truth/truthfulness, 95–97, 135 Tuckman’s model of group development, 31 Tuesdays with Morrie (Albom), 171 Turkle, Sherry, 17–18 261 Unilever, 11–15 Uniqueness, 100 United Scrap Metals, 101–3 US Alliance Group, 236 Values alignment of, 33, 34 company vs individual, 37, 66 personal exploration of, 79–80 statement of, 80–81 team credo and, 78–79, 87 understanding, 234 Vision/vision statements, 4, 6–7, 13, 43–59, 228, 233–34 co-creating of, 32, 46–47, 59 elevator test, 55–56 envisioning process, 51–55 fresh perspective, 57 good soup metaphor, 44–45 mission and vision statement compared, 59 process, 45, 56–58 purpose, 43 Saul Carliner and, 47–51 Visual language, 52 Volunteer organizations, 32–33, 47–51 W.L Gore Associates, Inc., 65 Walker, Gale, 209–10 Wall Street Journal, 29 Watson, Tony, 229–36 Web-enabled technology, 18 Well-roundedness, 187–88 We mentality, 74, 98, 101, 183 Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, 15–16 Whitman, Walt, 99 Wholeness, 173–74 Worry, 2, 3, Worst case scenario tool, 131 Ybarra, Richard, 208–10 Yoga, 224 Zielinski, Jerry, 114–16 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Lisa Gundry, Ph.D Lisa Gundry, Professor of Management in the Charles H Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University, teaches courses in Creativity in Business and EntrepreneurshipNew Venture Management She is the director and founder of the Leo V Ryan Center for Creativity and Innovation at DePaul, dedicated to handson learning for creative discovery and business innovation Dr Gundry was awarded the Innovation in Business Education Award in 1997, and in 1994, she received the Excellence in Teaching Award at DePaul University She has written two other books, BluePrints for Innovation, coauthored with Charles W Prather, and Field Casework: Methods for Consulting to Small and Start-Up Businesses, coauthored with Aaron Buchko She is co-creator of a team collaborating program offered at DePaul University’s Management Development Center The program provides business associates a certificate in 263 264 About the Authors Creative Collaboration—a comprehensive set of experiences dedicated to unlocking the collective wisdom in teams She has also published numerous journal articles, chapters in books, and has been interviewed in many media publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Entrepreneurial Woman, and Crain’s Chicago Business She consults with organizations on issues such as creative problem solving, innovation, and small business development She holds a Ph.D from Northwestern University She lives outside Chicago and credits her most creative moments to the inspiration she gets from her family Laurie LaMantia, MBA, MS Laurie LaMantia, owner of Athena & Associates, cofounded and directed IdeaVerse, an award-winning venture at Lucent Technologies dedicated to nurturing an environment for creativity and innovation Laurie spent more than seven years of her 14-year career with AT&T/Lucent immersed in the field of creativity and innovation teaching, consulting, and developing programs to ignite the power within people and organizations The most popular offerings of IdeaVerse were the team offerings Working with almost 100 teams, helping them with issues ranging from reinventing themselves to creating a collective vision has given her a significant understanding of what goes into fostering a collaborative team Prior to IdeaVerse, Laurie initiated and worked in the entrepreneurial new ventures organization within AT&T This organization was dedicated to nurturing fledgling internal venture teams in preparation for spin-off About the Authors 265 She is the co-creator of a certificate program, Creative Collaboration, a comprehensive set of experiences dedicated to unlocking the collective wisdom in teams, offered at DePaul University in Chicago Laurie holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, a Masters in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor in Electronic Engineering from DeVry Institute of Technology Laurie is currently an instructor for DePaul University and a corporate consultant She lives in Lombard, Illinois, with her wonderful husband Marc, and their feisty pair of Pomeranians, Buttercup and Cosmo For more collaborative resources, visit us at [...]... PREFACE Do teams work? We are all familiar with the belief that the power of people working together provides output that far surpasses the efforts of any one individual So why is it most of us have never been a part of a dream team? Do they really exist? And if they do, how did they get this magical ability? Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times explores the distinctive qualities of breakthrough teams, ... and a little effort, though, our teams are laying the groundwork for breakthrough thinking and action The following page contains a summary of the breakthrough process for you to copy for the entire team and hang at your desks as a reminder of what you can do to make a difference 6 Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times “Magic is the ability to create something that is honest and full of wonder In a... concepts to make them your own rather than just having a passive read Unlocking the genius of our teams essentially means we value the genius in ourselves and in other people and then go about making the most of it Who knows where this will take you? The journey is full of possibilities that can lead to breakthroughs So let’s get started GETTING INTO A BREAKTHROUGH FRAME OF MIND Before we begin our... model of the scientific method Breakthrough teams require whole-brain thinking and the full engagement of individual personalities, with all their innate passions and idiosyncrasies, working in concert with one another The variety of viewpoints and preferred methodologies are what lend the creative edge to the group What we are then led to when following the principles of the breakthrough team is not the. .. transform your team into one that makes a difference, whether being more productive and innovative, more in touch with the needs of your clients or communities, or enriching the professional and personal lives of the people on the team The ideas that grew into the pages of this book have come out of years of doing the work that matters most to us— helping individuals and teams find within themselves the. .. showcase a wide spectrum of collaborative teams We have not exclusively focused on amazing stories of breakthroughs or teams making great differences This would make it seem there are special people and teams who have “it” and other teams that never can Every team has a bit of “it” the magic of breakthroughs, the power of collaboration, the ability to create and innovate, and the ability to make a difference... a new way of knowing that was not possible before It is exciting and amazing Breakthroughs are like candy; once we have had the taste of one, we want more and more We might even go on a hunt for breakthroughs, expecting them, demanding them Yet, breakthroughs are as mysterious as the knowledge they bring What brings them on? How do we plan for them? Can we make them happen? How do we make them happen... reaping the fruits of our labors Teams Preface xxi have these cycles too Try to honor the cycles of your team and respect the need for rest We cannot always be in our summer or fall Seasonality is a basic law of nature; work with it and reap the fruits of the way teams (and life) work It is our hope this book becomes a handbook for you and your team Make notes in the margins and play with the concepts... create the reality we are experiencing and help shape the reality of our future Teams have extraordinary power to influence reality because of the number of people involved If we do not acknowledge the phenomenon of magic and reality creation, then we can never have the breakthrough discussion So if it is breakthroughs we want, we need to acknowledge the larger forces at play Can we put ourselves in a breakthrough. .. to the possibilities, and continue planting the seeds for breakthrough We review the opportunity or problem as we understand it It also helps to review any data and information we have gathered 4 Now we can play with possibilities Begin talking about the envisioned state for the team Do not be attached to the future state, but discuss what it could look like 4 Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times ... for Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times “If committees were the curse of the machine age, creative teams are the basis for victory in the information age Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times. .. lend the creative edge to the group What we are then led to when following the principles of the breakthrough team is not the primacy of the group, but the living, breathing individuals forming... part of a dream team? Do they really exist? And if they do, how did they get this magical ability? Breakthrough Teams for Breakneck Times explores the distinctive qualities of breakthrough teams,